Naruto: Sekai ni Hi o Tsuketa
by Fired Feathers of a Pheonix
Summary: Fourteen years after the end of Naruto: Shippuden, two rivals from the Land of the Leaf engage in battles against one another to outwit each other. As the Chuunin Exam nears it's way, the two decide it's finally time to pick the winner, but they may have grabbed more than they bargained for. The best part? The alliances are crashing, and every country is on the brink of war.
1. Prologue, Part I: The Rivalry

**Naruto: Sekai ni Hi o Tsuketa  
Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

**A/N: **Title Translation – Naruto: Set the World on Fire.  
Chapter one! This takes place fourteen years after the series ending. (Which hasn't happened yet, this is my own interpretation of the end.) So all you need to know is THIS:

Naruto has become the Rokudaime and Sasuke has returned to the village. Madara, Obito, and Zetsu are dead, summing up the series plot. Whoo.

**Full Summary:**  
Fourteen years after the end of Naruto: Shippuden, two rivals from the Land of the Leaf engage in battles against one another to outwit each other. As the Chuunin Exam nears its way, the two decide it's finally time to pick the winner, but they may have grabbed more than they bargained for. The best part? The alliances are crashing, and every country is on the brink of war.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**Prologue: Part I  
"**The Rivalry**"**

**OoOoOoOoO**

**EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE FOURTH SHINOBI WAR  
KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
THE ACADEMY**

Uchiha Hikaru hated Nabari Takeshi from the start.

Being an Uchiha, from the gecko, he was looked as if he were a demon of sorts. Being a spawn of Uchiha Sasuke, a former traitor of the village and an easily swayed person, didn't grant him many other merits either. Having the Sharingan didn't give him a promising future or tell people he could be an asset to the village. All anyone ever saw was the fact that he would be bad one day, just like his father.

Not that he knew _any of that_. He knew about the Sharingan and that it was powerful, but that was just about it. He'd never awoken it thus far, only being six years old. It only made it that much harder to explain to him why no one liked him, and why they didn't try to be friends to him. The kids at school seemed nice amongst themselves, but when he stepped into the picture they became hostile.

Not that they knew any of it either. They only knew the propaganda their parents had given them about the Uchiha.

To the young prodigy, being at school was like being alone in a crowded room. The teachers gave him praise – mostly Umino Iruka – for his soaring all A's achievement, but again, that was about it. He never "swapped lunches" or played tag or even any word games. When it came to choosing teams for the Ninja Game at school, he was always picked last.

Nabari Takeshi, however, was always picked first, if he wasn't already a captain. Grade wise and shinobi wise, the two were neck-in-neck in their class. Takeshi never seemed to pick up on it, but Hikaru did. And he absolutely one hundred percent hated Takeshi. Well, hate was a strong word – maybe he was merely jealous of the popular boy? Yes, maybe that was it.

Everyone loved Takeshi. He was one of those magnetic people that could get just about anyone to be his friend. He had a hilarious laugh and a kind smile, even though he was from a civilian family and his father was dead. It just made the boy realize how much more to appreciate the things and people he had. He was outgoing and made everyone feel welcome, even Fukamura Chiharu, a shy girl who didn't like to participate all that much.

It didn't make sense in Hikaru's head. For one, he didn't know why he had to compare himself to the likes of the civilian-born child. He was nothing special. Why did people think he would be the Rokudaime's successor one day? He could be just as great of a Hokage as he could! He was better than him, richer than him, and had an amazing Kekkei Genkai. Who needed people when you had that?

Those were the things he asked himself day after day. He sat in school in the back row, staring enviously where Takeshi sat in the front, grinning at Hagane Kagura like an idiot or writing down his notes and taking everything in just like an achieving student would.

He just didn't understand. Why did everyone avoid him? What made him so dislikeable? He hated sitting alone – he hated it, he hated it!

But his class was blind to his growing hatred and loneliness. They enjoyed their youth outside, while he sat indoors, pondering the ways he could beat Takeshi and show them all who was better once and for all.

At the start of the second semester, Hikaru got his chance.

**OoOoOoOoO**

It was a sparring day. It was a lesson to show how to fight against those from your village – the customaries and whatnot – and how to engage in a battle against your enemies. They were partnered off based on their skill they had shown in their first year, so that the best student in the class wouldn't be paired with the worst. In other words, they tried to make it as fair as possible.

Hikaru wouldn't have asked for anything else. He was the best in class, rivaled only by Takeshi. This meant they were finally going to face off.

Oh, Hikaru was going to beat Takeshi with his own knee!

They stood across from each other, about a foot apart. Folding their ring fingers and pinkies into their palm, they extended their arms and folded their fingers together. Takeshi smiled at him and gave him a small, polite bow once they pulled apart, but Hikaru gave him nothing in return.

A girl from their class, Hagane Kagura, called out viciously, "You can do it, Takeshi-kun! Beat him up!" There was a chorus of "yeah, get him!".

Takeshi shrugged at Hikaru, as if to say, _Eh? What're you gonna do?_

Hikaru took a battle position, and Takeshi immediately pulled away from his "fans" (so to say), and got ready to fight.

Iruka swiped his hand down like an axe, "Begin!"

Their movements were swift: Takeshi ran at Hikaru, throwing a punch out forward. Hikaru ducked, dropping down like a crab and slashing his feet out at Takeshi's knees. The boy saw this coming and jumped to avoid it. Hikaru pulled back and did a faltering back-flip (hey, prodigy or not, he was only six), landing shakily on his feet.

Takeshi ran at him, always headstrong as ever. Hikaru dodged from the oncoming blows several times, until finally he grabbed one of Takeshi's fists and swing at him with his free arm. However, Takeshi took Hikaru's idea and trapped his punch into his palm, bringing the two at a staring-contest stand-still.

All of the rage pent up over the last couple of months was driving him insane. He pushed harder onto Takeshi, never letting his eyes leave Takeshi's, but the boy responded with the same amount of strength.

Iruka began to advance towards them, "Alright, you two! Show's over." But no one was paying attention.

"Come on, Nabari!"

"You can do it!"

"G-G-Go Takeshi-kun!"

"TA-KE-SHI! TA-KE-SHI!"

The boy they were calling out to grit his teeth in frustration – although he bore no enmity to Hikaru, he still wanted to win, and they were knocking off his concentration.

Hikaru smirked – this was his chance to prove himself to them! This was it! He wouldn't be alone anymore! Not anymore! God, he hated Takeshi! Hated him! Hated him!

"Okay, okay, you two, I think you've proved your point," Iruka started again, reaching for them, but Hikaru was too quick.

He pulled back just ever so slightly, dropping down again and sending his feet into Takeshi's gut. The child cried out, gasping and falling back. There were gasps in the audience, and Hikaru sprung forward, tackling the boy down.

Iruka shouted something, but Hikaru wasn't listening. The mantra of hatred and loneliness was still echoing in his skull. He slammed his knuckles into Takeshi's jaw, and again in his eye, then once more, and again, and at his nose.

And just as he was about to slam his elbow into the boy's neck, a pair of strong arms pulled Hikaru away from the bloody boy, and he snapped out of whatever angry trance he was in. Takeshi was on the ground, eyes wide and staring at Hikaru as if he were a beast.

As for the other kids, they were just like Takeshi: speechless. The sparring sessions weren't supposed to go that far. You were only supposed to pin them down for three seconds or more.

Iruka glared down at Hikaru, "You're done for today. I'm having a parent-teacher conference after school today."

He set the boy down, who nodded with small tears in his eyes and ran off without an apology.

A knot formed in his gut.

**OoOoOoOoO**

He didn't go back to class. He couldn't. He hadn't meant to really hurt Takeshi; he just meant to show him up. Did his pride get to him? Or was it just his neglected feelings? There was no reason for Takeshi to be the embodiment of his hatred – he was just a good person and trying to be nice.

How could he face Takeshi knowing what he'd done? There was blood running down his face from his nose and over his lips. What if he broke his nose? He would probably have a black eye too.

The young Uchiha growled in frustration. Now he was going to be in trouble, too. His dad wasn't lenient on punishments. He never enforced any physical or verbal damage, but still, he was in deep kimshee.

So he ran off without any indication of where he was going – even he didn't know – and just let himself carry off to who knows where. He ran down streets and alleys he wasn't familiar with, until he was lost altogether in a forest area that was probably a training ground. He stopped at the edge of a black-water lake and sat on one of the many white rocks at its rim, sinking his feet into the cold water (after taking off his shoes first and setting them neatly at his side).

For hours he just let his feet prune as he kicked unenthusiastically at the water, staring at nothing. Even as the sun began to dip in the horizon, he couldn't believe what he'd done or why he'd done it. It's not like Takeshi was ever mean to him. A little rude unintentionally sometimes, but what kid knew any better?

He sighed. He should have just given up when Iruka told him to.

"So you punch me and then run off? For shame, Hikaru, for shame."

Hikaru jumped at the sound of the voice, whirling his head around. His black hair flew around him, his matching eyes meeting with Takeshi's rain-blue eyes.

Although expecting a scowl on the bruised boy's face – yeah, he _definitely _broke the boy's nose – he found a lazy smile. Hikaru's eyes widened, "Uh-ah, Take… what are you, why are you?" Nothing coherent could really come out.

Takeshi rolled his eyes, standing behind him and leaning over him so that when Hikaru looked up, Takeshi's face was there. "Uh, duh, I couldn't just let you show me up like that!"

The young Uchiha's face flushed, "I, umm, sorry, I just-"

"Nah, it's okay. I probably deserved it. You looked like you really hated me. …You punched at me like you really hated me." He easily said this with a simple shrug and a pained smile.

A pang of guilt hit Hikaru, and the coil in his stomach tightened. "No, that's not… I didn't mean it like- it's just that no one likes me and everyone likes you."

"Have you tried to not punch people?"

Hikaru glared.

"Right, right. Sorry."

Takeshi sighed, moving over to Hikaru's left and taking a seat next to him. He didn't dip his feet in the water like Hikaru did (on account he still had his shoes on). He looked to him, "Well, if you weren't so quiet, maybe we'd be friends."

Hikaru scoffed, "No one likes me."

"They don't know that until they meet you."

Grabbing a stone in his hand, he threw it angrily at the water. "But they won't! They won't because I'm an Uchiha!"

There was a brief silence between them. Hikaru figured it was because Takeshi hadn't known about his being an elite, and that he was probably just telling himself to go home now, that he wasn't worth his time, that-

"Um, so?"

Hikaru blinked. He looked up at Takeshi, who more or less looked like he had no clue what a fricking Uchiha even was.

"…It's because of my dad. No one likes him. So they don't like me."

"….No, I mean, I have no idea. Who's your dad? Is he a big deal, or something?"

"His name is Sasuke Uchiha?"

Takeshi didn't seem impressed or fearful. He just started like, _Okay? And?_

Hikaru sighed, "It figures that you wouldn't know any elite shinobi families since you're from a civilian one."

The blond boy raised an eyebrow, "Huh? Who said that? My dad was a shinobi. He fought in the Fourth War – and lived!"

Hikaru stared at him in surprise. Not many people can back from that war. Well, _his _dad did, but not many others. His dad's student, Fujioka Jin's dad, never came back. Besides, if he hadn't died in the war, then how did Takeshi's dad die?

"But, then how-"

"Dunno. My mom said there was an accident, but she never told me exactly what happened. In any case, why don't people like the Uchiha? I've ne'er heard of 'em."

It took him a moment to answer – he was still on the subject of Takeshi's dad when the question came out. When he did, he just shrugged, "I-unno."

"You don't? Then how do you even know if they're right about you?"

"I…" Hikaru was at a loss for words. Takeshi was absolutely right! Who was to say that just because his clan "did" something "bad", then that meant he was bad? No! It wasn't right at all!

Takeshi smiled, his black eye slightly cringing as he did, "See? Now that we've covered _that…" _His voice trailed off, but before Hikaru could ask, he felt a hand on his back, shoving him to the water. He slid, becoming enveloped in the black water.

He pushed his way up to the surface, gasping and sputtering. He glared up at Takeshi, "What was that for?"

Takeshi grinned cheekily, "_That _was for _this._" He gestured to his beaten face.

His ears went pink, and then he smiled, "Oh, right! Then I guess I should pay you back for this!" He grabbed Takeshi's ankle and pulled.

_Splash. _

Mimicking Hikaru's resurface and sputtering technique, Takeshi wiped the water off his eyelids (cringing when he put too much pressure on the black eye) and looked at Hikaru, who sniggered.

He shoved his hands forward, splashing him.

"Hey!"

"Well, you pulled me in!"

"You did it first!"

The two children laughed, trying to duck each other under and splashing one other. Takeshi pulled himself out of the water, Hikaru short behind. The former tapped the black-haired one, and shouted, "Tag! You're it!"

"Come back here, evil doer!"

"I shall never surrender, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Oh yeah? Taste this, Madara! RASENGAN!"

They then ran at each other, Hikaru pretending to be wielding a Rasengan and Takeshi "powerless" to stop it. He screamed, "Oh, no! YOU GOT ME! Bleh!" Then he fell over, dramatically dying.

Hikaru laughed, dropping at his side. As their giggles died down, they stared up at the last rays of sunlight that flew through the trees overhead.

The young Uchiha closed his eyes, breathless, "Takeshi?"

"Yeah?"

Something in his heart suddenly wasn't heavy anymore – like a burden had been lifted.

"Thanks."

**OoOoOoOoO**

No one understood how they became to be best friends. One day, they're punching the heck out of each other, and the next, they're sitting next to each other in class, taking notes side-by-side. What started out as a one-sided hatred became something that they both depended on. It was as if without each other was just as bad as seeing your family murdered… _twice_.

They spent the night at each other's houses, hardly ever going to their home without the other one. Though Sasuke tired of this, his wife Karin found it adorable. She couldn't get enough of it. The same went to Takeshi's mom, Nabari Minami, who quickly became friends with Karin.

The days they had to spend apart were probably the worst of the time. They got down on their hands and knees and cleaned the entire classroom when Iruka changed their seats. They even began to work harder just so they wouldn't be separated. (Which left him baffled – it was the first time it had happened. The last time he saw people this close were when he had Shikamaru and Chouji in his class, but even they didn't clean the classroom because of it.)

Honestly, they didn't know why they hadn't been friends up until that point. Fate had an odd way of uniting two people. It also had an odd effect on both of them – but especially Hikaru, who was now the utmost center of attention at school.

All of the girls _loved _him. At first they were unsure of him – as he'd beaten up their (ahem) _boyfriend _– but as he showed his true nature, they instantly fell for him.

Most of the time – when he wasn't busy hating Takeshi, that is – he was actually a sweet kid. He was soft-spoken and polite, and very kind. His mother always fawned over him and said he would make a great groom-to-be one day for a very special girl. And he would. He had a nature that was usually very calming. The only thing that had ever tipped him out of character was when he realized people liked Takeshi more and hated him.

But now he had no reason to hate Takeshi, so he reverted back to his mannerly persona. It was very contrasting to Takeshi's strident, slightly obnoxious and headstrong mannerism. Although it didn't seem all that likely for them to be friends, they were.

However, not many boys in the class were very, how do you say… _friendly, _towards him. One of the boys in particular, Juruko, really didn't take to him.

"Tell me again – _why _is the Uchiha in _our _group?" He asked Takeshi for the nth time when Hikaru took the bathroom pass.

Takeshi rolled his eyes, "Because he's my best friend – duh."

"But he punched the living snot outta you!"

"So? It's all healed." He gestured to his now-flawless child complexion.

Juruko's best friend – well, more like his right hand lackey – Oikawa Ryosuke leaned forward, "Yeah, but don't you know about the Uchiha?"

"No. And why should I have to know? It's not like Hikaru did it."

"Yeah, but-"

Hagane Kagura dug her first into Juruko's arm, "Shut up, you weirdo! If Takeshi-kun says he's okay, then he's okay? Got. It?"

The two shied back from the little black-haired girl's menacing tone. (Hey, just because she wore a little blue dress didn't mean she wasn't deadly.) "R-Right." They both stammered.

Takeshi smiled at Kagura, "Thanks, Kagu-rawr." He giggled at his own little nickname for her.

She blushed a shade of red, "N-No problem, Takeshi-kun."

To which Hikaru returned, handing back the pass and taking his rightful seat at Takeshi's side.

"Did I miss anything?" He wondered.

Takeshi smiled, "Nah, nothing important."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Nothing important, indeed. Within merely two weeks, the entire class had finally taken to Hikaru, boys and girls alike. This was much to their parent's concern, but what did they care? It was their children's choices, their life, and even if they brought it up, they would ignore it. As Takeshi said, Hikaru wasn't his dad.

As his popularity grew, Hikaru realized that while recognition is a good thing, too much of it can be overwhelming – especially when it came from Kagura. She had gone from trying to vie for Takeshi's to trying to vie for _his _attention.

"Wait up, Hikaru-kuuun!" Her voice sang. Takeshi, Hikaru, and Yamanaka Koushiro (a quiet boy from their class who was actually amazing friends with Kagura) stopped, backpacks slung over their shoulders, on their way to another day of school.

Takeshi gave a pained smile – Hikaru had realized they'd become more pained lately. He figured it was because he liked Kagura (enough to give her a cutesy nickname and ignore her cooties, at the very least). He waved, "Hi, Kagu-rawr."

"Oh, hi Takeshi-kun. Ne, Hikaru-kun, will you sit next to me today?"

Hikaru smiled, not wanting to be impolite but still wanting to preserve his friend's feelings. "Um, no, I think I'll sit next to Koushiro today. How about it, Koushiro?"

Koushiro nodded, "Y-yeah, sure!"

Takeshi took over from there, tapping Kagura on the shoulder, "You can sit next to me, Kagu."

Dismayed, the young girl sighed, "Okay, I guess."

The two boys exchanged mischievous looks, followed by a quick fist-bump.

It's always easy when you're young.

**OoOoOoOoO**

"What do we write this paper for?" Hikaru wondered to Takeshi – the former had been in the bathroom when Iruka had explained the assignment.

Takeshi got out a piece of paper and readied his pencil between his fingers. "We're supposed to write about what we want to do once we're ninja."

The Uchiha nodded once, "Oh… cool!"

"Tell me about it," Kagura said dreamily. "I already know what _I'm _going to do. _I'm _going to be a Hyuuga!"

Juruko stared at her, "You realize you have to be born a Hyuuga to be one of them, right?"

"Really? Aw, that sucks."

Takeshi laughed, "But good try anyway, Kagu-rawr."

Kagura giggled, blushing. Hikaru stared at his paper, then to Takeshi. "What do you want to do?"

Takeshi didn't even stammer, his confidence infinite, "I'm going to be Hokage, duh."

"You-you'll make a great Hokage, Nabari-san!" Koushiro cheered.

"Thanks, Koushiro. I'll make you my second right-hand man."

"Second?"

"Course. Hikaru is the first."

Hikaru beamed in pride – Takeshi actually picked him first? An Uchiha? He smiled at him, positively embarrassed, "Thanks."

"No problem – so, what do you want to do, Hikaru?"

All eyes were on him. Hikaru thought about it for a moment. While Hokage sounded cool, it wasn't something he was after. He grinned, "I want people to like my clan, is all. I guess I just want to make people see we aren't bad."

There was a moment of silence as they all stared at him.

"That's better than seeking title of Hokage, I'd say," was all Takeshi ever said on the matter.

**OoOoOoOoO**

After school, they had played in the park until after sunset. They played games like Ninja and Assassin, or even tag and hopscotch. (Who said it was a girly game? It was still fun.) The two had chased around a raccoon until it disappeared into the thicket of a forest, and tried to build a fort out of large branches. It was just as they'd finished the third wall that they had realized the sunlight was almost gone.

"I should _probably _go home," Takeshi figured. "My momma's gonna kill me when she finds out how late it is."

Hikaru nodded, "Yeah, okay. Meet you up at the usual meeting spot tomorrow morning?"

Takeshi laughed, "Duh. Where else?"

"I-unno. In any case, bring your paints tomorrow. We have to color in our camouflage blanket."

"Paints. Got it." The blonde boy mentally made a note to himself.

The two reached the stairs that led out of the park.

Hikaru waved his friend off, running off to the left, "Just don't forget!"

"I won't!"

**OoOoOoOoO**

_He forgot, I bet that's why he's late, _Hikaru grumbled to himself, sitting down in his usual seat. The seat next to him – Takeshi's – was empty, which was strange that in itself. As Iruka called roll, he said,

"Nabari Takeshi."

There was no response. Hikaru glanced worriedly at his seat. Takeshi was never late or absent. He was going for perfect attendance. So where was he?

"Huh? Is he not here? Oh, I guess I have to mark him absent…" Iruka seemed distracted. He was probably on the same mindset as Hikaru.

Twenty-three pairs of eyes, sensei and students alike, stared at the empty seat.

**OoOoOoOoO**

On the third day of his absence, Hikaru decided he would go to Takeshi's house. He went there often, so it wouldn't be weird if he just suddenly showed up. Minami liked him, and Takeshi was probably just sick, so there would be no harm so long as he got home on time.

But as he headed toward the front gates of the Academy, his eyes fell on a familiar, lean figure. His hair was black and fell around the sides of his face, wearing a police badge on over his chest.

He blinked. His dad never _ever _came to pick him up. He was always training his students this time of day. He came to a stop at his dad, who flashed him a warm smile.

"Dad? What're you doing here?"

Sasuke held out his hand, "I got out of work early. Come on, let's head home."

His after-school plans suddenly flashed in his head. "Uh, can we stop at Takeshi's house? I haven't seen him in a while. He's been absent."

Sasuke didn't say anything at first, hesitating. But instead of telling his son what he needed to, he just merely held out his hand further, "He's in the hospital, son. He'll be out in no time."

Hikaru gasped, "The hospital? But why is he in the hospital?"

"He's just sick. It's a little contagious, so we won't be able to visit him until he's cleared. Okay?"

A pang of disappointment and worrisome thoughts hit him.

Nonetheless, he took his dad's hand.

"Okay."

**OoOoOoOoO**

A week passed, then two. Still, there was no sight of his best friend. He had been begging his dad to just go to the hospital and see him through a window or _something, _but every answer was the same. Honestly, Hikaru wondered if parents had the ability to say "yes".

He told everyone in class of the problem, so they all constructed a "Get Well" card for him. Even Iruka signed, albeit reluctantly. Hikaru kept it in his possession in case he was ever granted access to the hospital. But as the days grew longer, Hikaru realized that without Takeshi, he was almost nothing. He didn't feel all that happy at school, for he was plagued with worry and fear. What had become of his friend? Was he so sick that he couldn't get up? He seemed fine the last time Hikaru saw him.

But then something entered his mind the nth time he asked his dad to see him. He realized that his dad would never look him in the eyes when he said no, that he was sick and he would make Hikaru sick too. Why wouldn't he ever look his first-born in the eye? He always busied himself with papers or meals or even on objects that were nearby like a vase of flowers. And then there were the times Sasuke would just say no and walk away, trying to get the attention of their gardener, Juugo, or Karin. He would even use Naruto – his uncle and the Rokudaime Hokage – as an excuse to be pulled away from his son.

It hit him later why he wouldn't look him in the eye – he was lying to him.

But why would his dad lie? Was Takeshi not in the hospital? If so, then where was he? Was he in trouble? Did he leave the village? (Well, he was probably too young for that alone.)

He finally just sucked in his gut and decided he would go to Takeshi's tomorrow. Even if he had to cut school, he had to go to Takeshi's house. If he wasn't at there, then he would check the hospital. Surely someone would let him in, right? Especially since his best friend in the whole world was in there.

They would, right?

**OoOoOoOoO**

He hated them – all of them. How could they be so happy, so innocent? Couldn't they see that there was a problem with the picture? Did they not see the empty chair that had been collecting dust for weeks?

Takeshi struggled to open the door, his chest still pained. His hair was no longer blonde – it was an ashy gray color. His wrists were bandaged as well as his forehead, and his skin was red on his ankles. He pushed into the classroom with difficulty, having to limp due to his right leg.

No one really looked at him when he first entered. Figures. The lot of them were all oblivious. Did they know where he had been? Or did _they_ just make up lies?

"_Nabari_? Is that _you?_" Umino Iruka's voice was in disbelief, risen so the whole class would hear. Shocked – he was back! – they turned to him, but their smiles fell short when they saw him.

Why wouldn't they stare? He was disgusting now. He was probably a good ten pounds (give or take) lighter than the last time they saw him, and his skin was pale and gray now. And if it wasn't, then there were purple, yellow and green bruises on him. The only things that hadn't changed about him were his light, crystal-blue eyes.

"T-Takeshi-kun?" Kagura stammered, her dark eyes wide.

"Takeshi!" Hikaru cheered, as if he hadn't seen the bruises or the hair or anything. He ran up to his friend, lunging at him and pulling him in a tight hug. Takeshi gasped and stumbled, a small cry of pain escaping his lips. Sheesh, those doctors weren't kidding when they told him his ribs were bruised severely.

Hikaru didn't notice, though. He just pulled back with a stupid grin on his face, "Takeshi! You're okay! I was so worried about you! What happened to your hair? Are you still conta-conta- contagious?" He struggled with the word.

Although he expected to be lighter in mood when he would see Hikaru, his chest grew heavier. His eyes grew darker, deadlier. "Get _away _from me."

The young Uchiha boy finally sensed the mood in the classroom, his utmost joy disintegrating. "H…huh? What do you-"

Takeshi, just wanting to avoid them all, pushed past him, limping, "Just what it sounds like. Go away."

The room grew quiet. Deciding it best to leave him be for a while, Hikaru let him go.

It was the last chance he ever had.

**OoOoOoOoO **

The class adapted quicker to the changed Takeshi than they did with the original Hikaru.

The changed Takeshi was strange to the way he had been. Instead of laughing, he moped around on the swing that hung under a large oak tree. Instead of making more friends, he detached himself from not only the class, but the teachers too, until all he had hanging onto him was Hikaru, who hadn't given up on their friendship.

Also, Takeshi was absent a lot now. It happened every other week on Thursdays. On the Wednesdays before he would leave, he would ask for all of the work for the next day and turn it in on Friday. He kept up his grades, and they were actually probably better due to his lack of distractions.

He used to suck up to the old Takeshi, but nowadays Juruko made it his priority to bother the distant child. He was worse to Takeshi than he had been to Hikaru – spitting spitballs at him during class, tripping him in the hallways, taking his backpack and having a girl put it in the girl's bathroom until a teacher would find it and return it. (He stopped doing this when Nara Temari-sensei, an upperclassmen teacher, found it and gave Juruko a run for his money.)

And Juruko was a major factor to the way kids saw things. He was the biggest reason it took so long for kids to like Hikaru. They all saw his behavior to Takeshi, so they backed off from the sullen child. He was different. He wasn't the same Takeshi. He didn't laugh or play or joke around. The light in his eyes just vanished.

The numbers of people who wanted Takeshi back dwindled. They began to hate him just like Juruko did; and being children they didn't really have a reason. It's easier for a kid to let go of friends.

Before long, Koushiro, Kagura, and Hikaru were the only ones left.

They hung to his memory by a shoestring.

**OoOoOoOoO**

He had been quietly mourning for weeks, not saying a word at all to the children since he had first come to class. There wasn't really any reason to.

But they were testing him, all of them. They wanted to know his breaking point – they wanted to know what happened and why he was hurt and why he suddenly changed.

Takeshi shook his head, dismissively, _No. It wasn't sudden. They just don't understand._

But most of all, even over Hikaru, was the young girl, Hagane Kagura. She used to be nobody like Hikaru once, until Takeshi… well, the old Takeshi… stood up for her. Everyone called her ugly because of her stupid dark eyes and her straw-like black hair. She didn't come from an esteemed family, so she didn't have any pretty dresses. They all called her "Ugly Betty" and "Kagu-baka" and "Rag Doll".

But while all of the kids made of her, she began to cry, and Takeshi suddenly pushed Ryosuke, and said,

"_Hey, stop that, I think she's the most beautiful girl in the world." _

They laughed it off at first, but Takeshi had been serious. He did think that way of her, and it meant so much to her that she declared her love for him privately and dreamed that one day they would be married.

Sure, there had been… _distractions. _But who wouldn't find Uchiha Hikaru positively adorable? He was sweet but with a soft manly side to him. His Uchiha genes made him irresistible too. So she fawned after him for a while, but the biggest reason was to make Takeshi jealous. She wanted to remind him that she could find boys just as quickly as girls caught his eye, so that she would be more desirable. And it worked, for a time, until he suddenly stopped showing up to school.

He hadn't spoken a word to her since he came back. She was going to find out if it killed her, too.

"Takeshi-kun?" She said one day on the playground, while he silently sat on his swing. He merely looked at her, not moving his head or showing any condition that her presence disrupted him.

"Um, well," she began, since it didn't seem like he was going to reply any time soon. "I, I was just wondering if we could eat lunch together – like we used to?"

He looked away.

She puffed her cheeks with air, anger twitching in her eyebrow. Why did boys have to be so stupid?

"Don't you care that no one likes you anymore? I thought you were going to be Hokage!"

He didn't move.

She grabbed both of the ropes on the swing, making him look her in the eyes, "TA-KE-SHI! Why are you being so mean? I thought you were nice! But I guess you're just a big IDIOT!"

His icy eyes glared at her.

"At least _I'm _not a skinny twig with straw hair! What are you, a rag doll?"

Kagura's eyes widened, and she let go of the ropes. Out of all people, she had never expected _him, _Nabari Takeshi, the love of her life, to call her those mean names.

Her lips trembled, tears in her eyes. She suddenly shouted, "Oh, yeah? WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT A BIG JERK!" She turned on her heel and ran off the playground, to find a silent place to cry on her own.

Takeshi rolled his eyes, and began to murmur to himself like he always did now.

Over in the sandbox, Koushiro and Hikaru exchanged glances.

**OoOoOoOoO**

The two boys, deciding to take on the man-only man mission, decided to approach him after school. It was probably just some of the kids that made him edgy. The real Takeshi they knew would never ever say mean things to Kagura that she repeated through a tirade of tears. He was probably just upset over being sick for so long? Yes, that had to be it.

"Takeshi!" Hikaru shouted down the road, making the boy stop. Takeshi turned with his ashen hair falling over his eyes, the life that had been in him once almost gone.

"N-Nabari-san!" Koushiro shouted in tune with Hikaru, and they came to a breathless stop in front of the detached boy.

His voice came out soft, "What?"

Koushiro was the first to speak, "Don't- Don't you think you were being a little mean to Kagura-san? I mean, all she wanted to do was help."

Takeshi narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

Hikaru took over, "Ta-Takeshi" – he was still breathless from running – "I don't know why you're suddenly mean now, but it's no reason to call Kagura ugly! I thought you liked her?"

The Nabari said nothing, again, but his fists were clenched when he had said "suddenly".

The young Uchiha huffed, and tried a different approach, "Come on, Takeshi, don't you want to go play or something? We can play Naruto versus Madara again if you want."

Takeshi scoffed, "I don't have time for childish games. Leave me alone."

Koushiro grabbed the hem of Takeshi's shirt, "But- Nabari-sa-"

"But nothing!" Takeshi suddenly shouted. He shoved Koushiro off, "I don't want to play your _stupid _games. I have bigger and better things to- SHUT UP!" He shrieked at nothing, glaring at the sky, for nothing was talking other than him.

Hikaru flinched back, then narrowed his eyes, "Takeshi, you're being weird! Just calm down and-"

Takeshi grabbed a fistful of his hair, "Just shut up, Mr. "I have to be perfect all the time". Just shut up and leave me alone!"

Koushiro tried again to grab him, but this time he sent his fist flying at Koushiro, nailing him in the jaw. The blonde boy cried out and toppled over, leaving Hikaru to gasp.

He raised his fists at Takeshi, and without thinking, charged at him. They met each other with fierce grips, wrestling each other to the ground. They rolled around in the dirt, punching and kicking and scratching at whatever they could.

Koushiro cried out, pulling at their shoulders to separate them, but they bat him away, and kicked at him, causing him to fall back. With nothing else to do, he ran off in search of an adult before they killed each other.

Yet somehow, he knew it wouldn't be the last fight.

**OoOoOoOoO**

It wasn't. In the next upcoming months, they couldn't go near each other without battling it out. Most of the class were what you would call "buffer states", and made sure they didn't go near each other. They had never seen them fight, except for Koushiro who would rather forget, but they didn't want to.

That is, until Juruko decided to ignite the flames. He thought he'd get a quick couple bucks by having a formal fight and getting people to pay for tickets. He went behind both their backs, saying to Takeshi what horrible things Hikaru "said" about him, and vice versa to Hikaru. The two got so mad that they just randomly tackled each other at recess, resulting in a fight.

They were progressively worse after that. Kids got excited about the rivalry, and took sides (Hikaru had the majority). Bets were made on which one would get better grades, and which one would win their fights that were hosted every Friday by (duh) Juruko. It was always a different place – at the playground, on the Hokage Monument, in the Training Grounds, in the street, in an old weaponry warehouse (that one was a mistake), and even at one of their classmate's yards if they volunteered. It became like a ritual of sorts, and they all enjoyed it.

Takeshi and Hikaru didn't try to stop any of the propaganda either. In fact, they encouraged it. For one reason or another, their bitterness toward one another grew. Hikaru's reason was fairly obvious, although no one really knew why Takeshi was spurring it on. Although considering the time since his change, no one really knew anything about him anymore.

In any case, every Friday afternoon at four o'clock, the two of them would meet wherever they wished. Today, on their fourth year, the two of them faced across each other, standing on a bridge that stretched over the Karakuri River – Takeshi to the South, and Hikaru to the North. The class sat on whatever side they were on, which meant that twenty-one kids were to the North, and Fukamura Chiharu sat to the South.

She was the only girl in the class who still didn't take to his new personality. She was too kind of a person to go along with everyone else, although no one thought she was socially bad. They understood she was far too accepting and fair to just take Hikaru's side, no matter what she thought of either one. Honestly, she felt bad for Takeshi's lack of fans.

Hikaru took a ready stance, while Takeshi stood with a kunai in his hand (they were now allowed these in their fourth year) rather unenthusiastically. He had a small black stud on his lower lip now, as well has two spider-bite studs on his left eyebrow. One of them was white, the other gray. Also he wore a hoop on the curve of his right ear, and on the other ear he had a rod sticking out, across to the hoop.

His newest edition to his little pierced collection, however, was a yellow star just below the rod. Now, he had six.

Juruko smirked, "I see you have a new addition to your juvenile look, Nabari. What's the star for?"

Takeshi didn't seem fazed to the untrained eye, but if you knew him well enough like this you could tell there was twinge of anger in his eyebrow. "It's for someone."

Kagura rolled her eyes on the sidelines, jabbing her elbow into Koushiro lightly and gesturing to the other side where Chiharu sat. Koushiro shrugged.

The Uchiha didn't care – what Takeshi did to his face was his business. He got himself ready.

A boy by the name of Satoshi stood on the rim of the bridge at its midpoint. He held up a black and white flag – which is really the only reason he was referee was because of it being in his possession – and shouted, "ARE YOU READY!"

Takeshi gave him an icy glare, "This isn't a stupid game. Just say "go" and be done with it."

Satoshi sighed, muttering something about a lack of respect. He waved the flag lamely and said, "Okay, okay, first one to hit the water loses, go."

Without hesitation, the two ran at each other, kunai raised. With a quick drop and slide, Hikaru went for Takeshi's knees, who jumped to avoid him. He tucked his head into his body and preformed a front-flip, bringing down his ankle on Hikaru.

The crowd cringed when it hit Hikaru on the shoulder. He cried out but didn't let it slow him down, so he grabbed Takeshi's ankle and tossed him over the rim of the bridge. He fell over but caught himself, flipping under the bridge and catching himself on the other side, thus pulling himself up by Satoshi.

Takeshi gave a triumphant grin, "Gonna have'ta work harder than that, Wonder Boy."

The Uchiha clicked his tongue, "Call me that again and I won't have a problem kicking your ass."

There was murmur of "oooo's" among the crowd – they were only in the fourth grade and "ass" was a word their mommies didn't want them to say.

"Ha!" The Nabari laughed. "I don't think you could if you had _help, Wonder Boy._"

Hikaru charged to the side of the bridge (Satoshi "eeped" and got out of the way) and threw a punch, but Takeshi jumped over him and landing on the platform.

"Is that _all _you can do, Nabari? Jump out of my way?"

Takeshi ran at him without another word, and they began close combat. Punches were thrown as they tried to knock one another off their feet by attempting to trip them out of their stances. They jumped and flipped and twirled out of harm's way, and in a certain angle it seemed like they were just preforming a dance.

Then, Hikaru swung his kunai forward, and there was a gasp in the crowd as Takeshi fell back, blood on his shoulder. Hikaru's eyes widened – he had gone too far.

The tip of the kunai extended out of Takeshi's shoulder blade – it had gone straight through his heart.

Takeshi fell back, blood falling out of his lips, and collapsing with a thud.

"Ta….Takeshi?!" Hikaru shouted, alarmed, and knelt at his side. He hated him, but that didn't mean he wanted to kill him! The children stood, all placing their hands over their mouths. (Did Hikaru do what they just think he did?) Hikaru took the body into his arms, shaking the boy. "O-Oh god, what have I…"

Poof.

A cloud of white smoke enveloped Takeshi, and like that, he disappeared without any trace except for a log in his place. Hikaru stared down at the wood, completely baffled. What just…

"HYAA!"

Hikaru had no time to react when Takeshi suddenly came from under the bridge with a battle cry, shoving Hikaru off of the bridge. He fell into the water with a SPLASH.

"Takeshi is the winner!" Satoshi announced, earning a loud eruption from the crowd – some cheering and some merely baffled, while some (namely Kagura) shouted about how unfair it had been.

Hikaru surfaced, coughing and sputtering. "Takeshi? But, what did you-"

"It's called Substitution no Jutsu, id~i~ot~." The boy sang, looking down at Hikaru from the bridge. "But still, nice to know you care so much!" Sarcasm was dripping feverishly in his undertone.

The Uchiha's face flushed red. How did he expect Takeshi to have already mastered it? They hadn't gone over it in class yet!

"You- that's cheating!"

Takeshi shrugged, jumping away from the edge and heading south.

"All's fair in love and war!"

**OoOoOoOoO**

Hikaru had been holding back.

It wasn't on purpose, obviously, but he went home that day, and felt guilty for some reason. But what should he feel guilty about? Takeshi had shoved him in the river, Takeshi had been a jerk, he had… well, he didn't cheat, but still. Takeshi had been to blame for his bad day, so why did he feel bad?

He didn't sleep, he paced; but the more he walked, the worse he felt. Why in Shodai's sake did he feel so- so!

"Ugh!" He suddenly cried out, not really caring if his little sister was asleep or not. He jumped back down onto his bed, growling and throwing a pillow over his face.

How could his best friend, his leader – how could he turn into a jerk? "All's fair in love and war!" Hikaru suddenly shouted. "All's fair in love and war my BUTT! Who does he think he is that- that- that UGH!" He picked up something – a cup or something glass on his nightstand; he wouldn't know, he wasn't looking – and chucked it at the mirror.

The glass shattered and screamed – its bloody cry rang through his room, shrieking in Hikaru's ear. Its body fell to the floor with a sickening silence that Hikaru didn't want to listen to. His breaths were raspy as he stared into what was left of the mirror, hanging onto its wooden frame for life. His own reflection was distorted and broken, but a flash of red caught his eyes.

There was voice in the hallway – probably his mother or his father – but he wouldn't listen to it. He traced one of his fingers on his bottom eye lid, wondering if his eye had bled from the broken looking glass. When he felt hot liquid, he was alarmed, but when he pulled his hand away, it wasn't red. They were tears.

The old Takeshi Hikaru once knew washed down the river, the shoestring snapped, and suddenly, the new Takeshi was the only one Hikaru knew. There was no "friendship" or "past" with Takeshi, and now, there was only a future between them.

A smile crept up to Hikaru's lips – Takeshi would regret those words.

"All's fair in love and war, huh?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

**A/N: **Well, the second and final part of the prologue will be posted soon! As you can tell there are just minor mentions of characters from the original series. I plan not to make it all about them, but they will be included in this as the story progresses. This is my second attempt at this, so maybe it's better now? Worse? Let me know in a review!

Also, I should probably let you know I'm BIG on symbolism: REALLY big. I like to bring it up a lot in my works, so look out for it.

Thank you for reading! Until next time,

~Fired Feathers of a Phoenix


	2. Prologue, Part II: Race to the Finish

**Naruto: Sekai ni Hi o Tsuketa  
Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

**A/N: **Part two of the prologue, and then I can finally get to the main story!

Thank you to all of the people who have been reading! No reviews yet, but just looking at the story traffic fills my heart with joy! Thirty-six visitors, and counting! I even got two followers! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

ONWARD!

**OoOoOoOoO**

**Prologue: Part II  
"**Race to the Finish**"**

**OoOoOoOoO**

**ONE YEAR LATER  
KONOAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
THE ACADEMY**

"Hey, did you hear? That sixth year Mizune Akane got killed. Apparently some guy broke into her house and killed her and her mom."

"Are you serious? Akane-sempai is gone?"

"I can't… what about her dad?"

"He died a couple of years ago. Now all that's left is her grandfather."

"That poor man…"

"Wait… but the sixth-years are graduating in two weeks. Won't there be an odd number of students?"

"Maybe they'll take a younger student from our year?"

"I don't know. It'll probably be Nabari, though."

"Are you kidding? Hikaru would get the position, no doubt."

"No way! Nabari is way more serious when it comes to training!"

"Yeah, but Hikaru has natural talent and he's-"

Takeshi turned away, not wanting to listen to the rest of it. He had been dealing with it long enough. He did hear about Mizune-sempai, but didn't know the details. He hadn't even thought about the graduates. He could get out of school _this _year. He could become a Genin. He would be so much closer to-

"_Oooooh, sounds like fun, Takeshi~! You should go see if the spot's open; maybe then you could be closer to achieving power."_

Takeshi cringed and glared at the man standing next to him, "Is power all you ever think about? Forget it."

Nevertheless, he walked toward the administration office. Not far behind him, Oikawa Ryosuke and Juruko stood.

"Who in the heck is Nabari always talking to?"

"Beats me. Schizoid."

**OoOoOoOoO**

The Academy was made out of four separate buildings. When the school was being rebuilt after the whole Pein Invasion incident, they decided to pull the grades apart. There was a building for first and second years, one for third and fourth, and then there was one for fifth and sixth years. The last building was located in the center – the administration building. This was also where the gym was, but it was also where the Headmaster and teachers went for meetings and lunch breaks.

Takeshi stepped into the Administration Building. He had been here many times – the Headmaster's office was here, duh – for being in trouble. (His deeds of disaster often included bad-mouthing students, teachers, wearing his piercings in school, fighting on campus, and not paying attention to the teacher.)

As he had been here before, he headed towards the secretary to the Headmaster, a man with big glasses and a rather uninterested face: Udon-sensei. He looked up at him upon entering. His voice was deep and congested, "Uh? Nabari-san? What are you – sniff – doing here? Did you get in trouble before school even started?"

Takeshi leaned on the counter, careful not to hit his head on the glass that separated the two. "I'd like to speak with the Headmaster."

"About?"

Another voice chimed in, "Let me guess, Takeshi, you're here the same reason I am."

Takeshi scowled as Hikaru entered the premises, a look on his face that was somewhere between a glare and a smug grin. He had his hands in his pockets, wearing a black t-shirt and white jeans.

"If you think you're going to graduate this year," Takeshi spat, "then you're dead wrong, Wonder Boy."

Hikaru's nose twitched in disgust of the nickname, but after years of being called it, he let it go. "I was about to say the same to you, Nabari."

Udon sniffed rather loudly, making the two turn to him, "Yes, yes, you can both go see the Headmaster. Just don't fight each other on the way there." There was also that – Hikaru and Takeshi were more often than not sent here together. Udon was used to dealing with both of them.

The two glared at one another, but then nodded at Udon and headed down the hall. There were a couple teachers walking around, gathering files in their hands or walking off to do something. The two boys knew the second they began to talk they would start a fight – thus angering the teachers – so they decided against it.

The Headmaster's door was a wooden door with "HEADMASTER KONOHAMARU-SAMA" carved into it, obviously by an amateur. It was probably the man in the office himself, the strong yet… very eccentric Sarutobi Konohamaru.

Hikaru reached the door first, tapping his fist against it. The two cringed when something on the other side crashed, followed by a confused shriek – "Huh? Wha? Who's there?" – and the slam of something (or someone) crashing to the ground. Takeshi just rolled his eyes while Hikaru knocked again, asking, "Um, Headmaster? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fin- WHAT TIME IS IT? Have I been here all night?! Ah, frick- oh, come in!"

Shoving past the Uchiha, Takeshi turned the knob and forced his way in – Hikaru at his heels. The Headmaster's office was cluttered and filled with trash and files, stacked up on his desk and in piles on all four corners of the room. There was a single passageway from the door to the desk, but other than that it was impossible to get around. The room was dark with no lights on except for a lamp above Konohamaru's head. In a word: the place was a pigsty.

Now, Konohamaru himself didn't look all that impressive, either. He was a skinny man with dark eyes and dark hair that rose upwards. He had blush marks on his cheeks twenty-four seven, and wore a large scarf around his neck that flew behind him wherever he went. Most of the time he was a loudmouth pervert who tended to mess up things, but there was that percentage of the time when he knew what he was talking about…. Or so they heard.

Konohamaru shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "Ahhh, you two, korre?" There was that too – after speaking, he most often ended it with the word "korre". What it meant, well, no one knew. "It's… aw, man, it's eight fifteen in the morning! …How did you two manage to get into trouble _this _early?"

Takeshi crossed his arms, "That's not what we're here for, dumb-dumb."

Hikaru stepped up, "I'm sorry for interrupting" (whatever this was) " … um, Headmaster, but I-"

"_We," _Takeshi corrected.

"_I _was wondering about the sixth-year graduates. Well, they're an odd number of students since Mizune-sempai's passing, and I figured there might be a spot open?"

Konohamaru sat there, staring at them. He had writing on his left cheek, probably due to sleeping on his paperwork, and he didn't seem like a morning person. "Uh," he paused. "Uh, well, I didn't think about that, korre. Temari is in charge of teams this year…. Here," he pressed a button. "Oi, Udon-baka, can you get Temari in here?"

"_Temari speaking. Udon had to use the bathroom. What's up?"_

Konohamaru yawned, "Haaaaaaaaah, I was wondering if there was a spot open on a team this year."

There was a pause. _"Yes, there is. There will be an odd number since Mizune Akane won't be graduating. Why… Are Nabari and Uchiha there?"_

The Headmaster laughed, "It's like you knew! And yeah, they were wondering if they could get the spot, korre."

No response came from the other end, and the three stared at it. Konohamaru pressed the button again, "Uh, hello? Temari?"

The door swung open, making all three men jump. Temari stepped into the room, giant fan and all on her back, with a determined expression on her face. Takeshi and Hikaru both gave her a respectful bow immediately – and although they didn't see it, so did Konohamaru – and chorused, "T-Temari-sensei!"

The one-woman-revolution placed her arms akimbo, "What do you two think you're doing? Neither one of you are ready to graduate!"

Hikaru's face went pale, and Takeshi gulped. Both of them began to stammer, "Uh, well, I-"

Usually, Hikaru and Takeshi had no problems with teachers – but like every Konoha nin, Temari was one to be feared. She was a true-to-blood Suna nin, with a deadly, one-set mind. She was a confident woman who knew what she was talking about. She became a teacher at the Academy when she married her husband, Nara Shikamaru, and ever since then, the kids learned how to avoid her wrath. She gave the worst punishments by far, and all students had their fair share of them.

In short, there were few to stand up to her. (Takeshi had done it a couple times, but decided the punishments weren't worth his smart mouth.) But then, Konohamaru stood, "Now, hold up korre! These two are strong. They could have been shinobi a year ago!"

Temari crossed her arms, "They haven't completed their education. In Sunagakure, we wait until we're certain they're ready."

"So? Many ninja have graduated before they finished!"

Temari gave a sarcastic laugh, "Of course! Because Uchiha Itachi turned out _fine!" _

Konohamaru glared, "CHEAP SHOT, KORRE!"

Hikaru glared, and murmured, "There was nothing wrong with my uncle." Takeshi snorted, but before Hikaru could retort, Konohamaru jumped up on his desk. (It was a miracle he didn't slip on all of his papers.)

"ALRIGHT, SHUDDUP, KORRE!" He huffed. "Now, Temari, why don't we test them? If they pass the test sixth years have to take to graduate, then they can get in!"

Temari raised an eyebrow, "Only one problem."

Both students looked at her, waiting. Konohamaru crossed his arms, "And what's that, korre?"

"There's only one spot open."

It was like lightning crossed between Hikaru's and Takeshi's glares. Both stood up and shouted, "I'LL TAKE THE TEST!"

"Shuddup, both of you, it's still early," Konohamaru slurred. He jumped off of his desk, "Here, the one with the highest points on the test gets to be a Genin. Sound good?"

Both nodded.

"Cool, now get out. I need to call my wife and let her know I'm not dead. Temari, can you make sure these two don't fight on the way out?"

Temari rolled her eyes, "Yes, come on you two."

She led them out of the room, but even she knew she couldn't stop them from fighting sooner or later.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
HOKAGE BUILDING**

His cape flew back behind him as he ran through the halls. He passed through several people – not BY several people; THROUGH, as he shoved them down – all while shouting, "Sorry, in a hurry, dattebayo! Oh! Put those in my office!" To which a guy carrying an order of Ramen stopped in his steps and looked back.

"Wait! What about the bill?"

Uzumaki Naruto grinned back at him, his blue eyes dazzling, "Just put in on my tab!"

"But, you put the last fourteen orders on your tab!"

"Uhhhhh- gotta run! Big meeting with the council! Bye!" And he ran off, with the speed of a shinobi, leaving the Ichiraku Ramen delivery guy sighing.

He zipped down the hall and took several turns, the path memorized. At his destination were two large doors, and a sign next to it that read "Konohagakure Council". He practically pushed himself through the door and skid on the floor, coming to a stop at the table.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Deadly dark eyes met his sparkling blue ones. A black, looming aura seemed to envelope the room, and if Naruto didn't know any better, he would think Sasuke had his Susanoo activated. Sakura was sitting next to him, her strong spindrift eyes leering at him. Kakashi was reading calmly, and Shikamaru had his head resting on his palm, yawning disinterestedly. Shizune had her arms crossed, but she was sighing out of relief that he was FINALLY here.

"Oi, Dobe," Sasuke seethed. "Waiting for Kakashi was bad enough, but I don't have the time to lag around here for you."

A vein popped in Naruto's forehead, "HEY! YOU TRY MANAGING AN ENTIRE VILLAGE _AND _TWO STUDENTS!"

"I already do that, with my duties as the Chief of Police and as leader of Jin and Ume. But I've never missed a meeting."

"Ugh," Sakura flipped her bangs. "I bet you were taking a nap again."

Kakashi giggled at his book, not paying attention. Shikamaru and Shizune both sighed – if anyone here would be able to settle their bickering, it was him, but it seemed he had no volition to do so.

"I was NOT taking a nap! If you really wanted to know, my beautiful student Yagami was in a crisis! She needed my expertise!" Naruto shouted this, flailing his arms around. When it came to his students – Makko and Yagami – he was serious, but at the same time, completely absorbed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I've dealt with Ume's troubles as well, Dobe, and still, _I've never missed a meeting and I've never been late._"

Okay, Naruto still looked peeved, but Shikamaru stepped up. "Alright, alright, let's just shut up. Sasuke, you have a stick up your ass, and Naruto, if you're going to call an important meeting, then be here, because honestly, I could be at home doing nothing and I'd rather be doing that. SO. Let's get down to business." He sat back down and turned to Naruto, "So? What's up?"

The Council looked up at him expectantly, waiting for something.

Naruto opened his mouth a took in a deep breath, one finger pointed up, but… nothing came.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, IDIOOOOOOOT!" Sakura jumped up, screaming "HELL YEAH!" and her fist collided with Naruto's cheek, sending him flying across the room.

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his temple, muttering something about priorities. Kakashi folded his book shut, finally noticing what was going on in reality.

Sakura cracked her knuckles, ready to bring on the pain, but Naruto jumped up and gave her jazz hands. "No, no, Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to pause, I was just thinking of where to start, dattebayo! I know what I'm doing!"

The pink-haired girl scoffed, and as she turned she muttered, "Then get on with it. I have things to do today."

Shikamaru sighed, "You and me both."

Naruto glared, "And you think I don't?!" He jumped up, "Whatever, tebayo. In any case, the reason I had to bring you guys here is because Old Man Tsuchikage is dying."

The room grew eerily silent.

Kakashi sighed, "Well, it's about time. He was getting pretty old. He hasn't been able to move on his own for the past couple of months, right?"

Sasuke nodded, "Yes. I guess his age is catching up to him. So what? His successor is his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. And last I checked, she was in favor of the alliance."

Kakashi sighed again, "So basically he's wasting our time."

Naruto glared, "HEY! I AM NOT WASTING ANYONE'S TIME!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, picking up her purse. "I'm leaving."

Sasuke followed her lead, "Me too."

It was then Shizune decided to jump up, "W-Wait! Naruto-sama has a point. Our intelligence says that Kurotsuchi-san isn't in favor of the votes. It's someone else."

"Someone else?" Kakashi wondered. His one eye widened, "You wouldn't be talking about that prodigy kid – Hironori, was it?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "It would be stupid of them to replace their Tsuchikage with a fourteen year old."

The pink-haired kunoichi at his side flipped her hair, "It's not uncommon. Gaara became Kazekage at fifteen; Naruto when he was eighteen. In fact, people actually prefer to pick younger Kages – because they're strong at such a young age, and they can use that to flaunt at other villages; plus, they'll last longer."

Sasuke scoffed while Naruto crossed his arms. "Anyway, this kid is a creep. He's already been an ANBU for six years and he just recently went back to Jounin. He's weeeeeeeird."

"Being weird doesn't mean you're bad, Naruto. And you should know that firsthand." Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he spoke this.

"OI! WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, DATTEBAYO!?"

Shizune sighed, going on, "We need to be prepared for the worst. Hironori has no intentions of keeping any alliances."

Naruto grunted, "Then I'll just talk to him! When he becomes Hokag- whoa, sorry, Tsuchikage – then I'll just talk to him and figure out what he wants. And even if he tries to break the alliance" – he punched his fist into his opposite palm – "I'll just have to change his mind."

As if it would be that easy.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
CITY STREETS**

Usually, before a fight or a contest or a challenge, they were always glaring at each other. Like little girls with superfluous greed or enmity, they would steal looks of death at one another and sneer. But this time… this time, it was abnormal.

They didn't so much as look at each other, or go near one another. And if they had crossed paths, they hadn't known it, because they had their noses pressed into books.

Studying without breaks, on campus; and off campus, they were training. Neither got any sleep because they were putting all of their effort into their work. Not even Koushiro could get through to Hikaru, and the same with Chiharu to Takeshi. They were too wrapped up in the idea of victory.

It wasn't just that they wanted to be ninja – well, they did, badly. But to advance early, to go to a higher level without the other – it would win their contest. After years of fighting, they would finally see the victor.

Hikaru bit his thumbnail as he studied the hand signs for the substitution jutsu. It was late and he was walking home from the Hokage Building. He just needed for his uncle Naruto to help him out with the Kage Bushin no Jutsu, and when he got home he would ask his dad for help with his fire techniques.

"Okay, so it's Ram-Boar-Ox-Dog-Snake. Ram-Boar-Ox-Dog-Snake." He repeated this twice more, mentally stashing it in his head. He nodded to himself, then closed his book. _It's probably not safe if I walk and read. I'll bump into someone._

"HAH! HAH! KYAA!"

Hikaru was startled by the sudden battle cries. He wasn't anywhere near the training grounds – just by an old park. Curious, he peered into the old park.

He didn't know why he wasn't expecting it, but it was Takeshi, kicking and punching at the air in practice. Hikaru glanced at his watch. It was almost midnight. He didn't even realize it himself.

"What do you want, Wonder Boy?" Takeshi didn't so much as look at him, still throwing punches and kicks.

Hikaru glared, "I was just walking home, Nabari. And shouldn't you be sleeping? I'm not going to enjoy winning if I only get it by default."

"That's the only way you _could_ win, Wonder Boy. And rest assured, tomorrow I'll be in my best condition." He threw a set of combo moves.

He could feel his face heat up in rage. "Stop calling me Wonder Boy!"

"Not on your life."

Hikaru seethed, and turned away. He should have known Takeshi wasn't going to listen… "Hey, Takeshi."

Said boy stopped moving, and stood straight. His voice was sullen and soft, "What?"

Hikaru looked up at him, "I don't plan on losing to you anymore. Starting tomorrow, I won't. I've always lived in your shadow – even when we were friends. To you I've always been second. But tomorrow… I told you once that I am going to bring light to my clan, the Uchiha. And to do that I can't be depending on you, I can't be in your shadow. So starting tomorrow, I'm going to be the light. I'm going to win, no matter what."

Silence rang in the air for several moments. Takeshi chuckled, "Is that all you had to say?"

"…No. I also wanted to say thanks."

"For what?"

"…If you hadn't been around, I would have never been as strong as I am today. I wouldn't have the determination. So thanks. But you should know that because of that, you're going to be your own downfall."

Takeshi narrowed his eyes at the ground, looking up at him. "Fine. Then I should say thanks as well."

It wasn't what he was expecting, "Huh?"

Takeshi smirked, "I have bigger and better things to do than to have a quarrel with you, Wonder Boy. But you were the only one in our class who was even with me, so I specifically picked you to train with. Like myself in your scenario, you helped my determination. And I don't plan on losing to you, either, tomorrow. I am a ninja, therefore I am darkness. Light will never win. There are more shadows in this world than there is light."

Hikaru's black eyes dulled, and they stared at Takeshi, his sky blue eyes shining in the darkness. "You're wrong, Takeshi. If a light is bright enough, it'll chase the shadows away."

"You live in a nice fantasy, Hikaru. But the world isn't all it's cracked up to be. Now, go home. I have training to do."

Hikaru turned away, "Very well. I'll see you tomorrow, Takeshi."

He strode under the streetlight, heading home. Takeshi remained still, not leaving his small realm of darkness. He glanced over at a small post in the middle of the park; the same park he used to play in when he was younger.

Carved in it read: _HIKARU AND TAKESHI. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER._

"_It used to be like that once, didn't it, Takeshi?"_

Takeshi glared up at nothing in particular, and threw a punch. What should have been air was not, and a soft patting sound – something like skin slapping against skin – rang through the air. His words were soft yet menacing, now looking anywhere but up.

"Shut up."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
THE ACADEMY, CLASS 5-C.**

Everyone in their class was amped. It was their final battle of the Academy. The last. Whoever won this was determined the winner.

"I can't wait to see the look on Nabari's face when Hikaru's the winner!" Juruko shouted at his friends, grinning. He was sitting in his desk, with many circled around it.

Kagura crossed her arms, "Part of me wants Nabari to win; only because I don't want to be stuck with him for another year."

Koushiro grinned nervously, "It can't be that bad, Kagura-san. Besides, we should support Hikaru, whether he wins or loses!"

Kagura nodded, sulking, "Yeeeaaaaah, I guess you're right."

"By the way," Satoshi spoke up. "Where _are _those two?"

"They had to get here early." Koushiro explained. "For the testing."

Chiharu was suddenly there, and all of the kids gave her a strange look. She hardly ever talked to people besides Takeshi. "T-Takeshi-kun said there were two parts to the test. A written one and a physical one. He didn't know what he had to do in either, so I don't know anything but that…"

Juruko crossed his arms, "Well, as much as I hate to say it, Nabari is going to ace the physical test; but Hikaru definitely has the ability to beat him in the written test…"

"So it's even?" Kagu ra wondered, not at all happy by it. She wanted Hikaru to win, but she also wanted him to lose… She guessed either way she wouldn't care. But she figured that was wrong; because she should care. Hikaru was her… well, she loved him; and Takeshi was just… ugh. He had the potential once, but not anymore.

Ryosuke ran up to the group, "Hey guys! Come on! The test is almost over!"

Everyone jumped out of their seats, racing down the hall.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
THE ACADEMY, CLASS 1-B.**

Although sitting next to each other, neither moved or spoke or even took a breath. They were trying to hide their anxiety from one another, but you could see the signs of it: Takeshi was tapping his foot, so fast you could hardly see it move. Hikaru was biting the nail clean off his thumb, and both were staring at the door Temari had left through.

Takeshi took a deep breath and stopped tapping his foot. But he didn't notice how he started to tap his pointer nail on the desk, ringing through the room.

Hikaru groaned at the sound. He hated repetitive noises. The foot-tapping was bad enough, but the desk-tapping was worse.

Their desks were two feet apart. They had to get here at five in the morning, but the test didn't start until 5:45. The physical test was first, and they had just finished the written part. Both of them were about to tear their hair out in frustration…

The door flew open, and in came the Headmaster. He grinned, and the two of them stood up abruptly and said, "WHO WON?!"

Konohamaru "gacked" and backpedalled a bit, but thanks to Temari pushing him upwards he kept his balance. "Oi, oi, cool your jets, korre. I have the results right here." He held up a folder, and like dogs following a piece of meat with their eyes, Takeshi and Hikaru did so.

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. "Head back to your desks, would ya?" The two sulked and sat back in their seats. Konohamaru took a seat on the desk – no, not the chair behind the desk, ON the desk – and propped up one leg. "Alright, now, I'm going to have Temari step between you two so you don't attack each other when I tell you. Cool?"

Both glared at each other, but nodded, "Cool."

"Alright, korre! Well, I guess I'll tell you and then give back your scores, okay?" Both nodded. "Cool, korre. Alright, now, the one who gets to be a Genin this year is…" He seemed unsure for a moment, glancing up at Temari for conformation. He turned back to them, "Well, er… close your eyes."

The two blinked, but shrugged and closed their eyes. Konohamaru stepped up and set something down, "Okay, open your eyes."

Now, when Takeshi opened his eyes, all he saw was the classroom. He glanced down at his desk, but nothing was there. What did the Headmaster just-

Hikaru jumped up, "N-No way!" Takeshi's head swiveled to Hikaru, and his icy eyes widened at the sight of a headband. It was on Hikaru's desk. Hikaru grinned, scooping up the Hitai-ate into his hands. He smiled up at Konohamaru for conformation, and the Headmaster smiled.

"Congratulations, Hikaru. Starting tomorrow, you're going to be a Genin."

Hikaru jumped up out of his seat and wrapped his arms around the Headmaster, "T-Thank you sir! Thank you so much!"

But Takeshi only sat there, looking at his desk. Why hadn't he won? He knew all of the answers, had memorized them. Temari said his Kage Bushin no Jutsu was flawless, so why?

A piece of parchment was set on his desk. "Your results," Temari practically seethed, glaring at Hikaru and Konohamaru. Confused, Takeshi glanced at the paper.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**THE ACADEMY, HALLWAYS**

"Way to show 'im, Hikaru!"

"Yeah, Hikaru! YOU DA MAN!"

"I can't believe you're going to be a Genin…"

"Hey! Do you know who's going to be on your team?"

Hikaru grinned at all of his classmates – well, minus two, Takeshi and Chiharu – as they fired comment after question and question after comment. "I don't know yet. I'll know tomorrow."

"Wow! That's amazing! A real team!" Koushiro applauded.

Hikaru nodded, "Mm. Thank you."

Ryosuke glanced at the headband, "So this thing is for real?"

The Uchiha nodded. "Yeah! The Headmaster gave it to me when-"

"Oi! Chiharu! Let me go!"

The entire class turned at the sound of Takeshi's voice. Chiharu had him by the wrist, dragging him towards the class. She didn't dare let him go, and pushed through the crowd, stopping just in front of Hikaru.

"What score did you get, Hikaru-san?!" She was glaring at him, something Hikaru had never seen before. Chiharu was usually too nice for that. In one hand she had a paper clenched in a fist – Takeshi's results.

Hikaru glared at Takeshi, but held up his results anyway, "I got a ninety-nine."

You might as well have pulled down the girl's pants and pissed her off. She dropped Takeshi's results and slapped Hikaru across the cheek. Hikaru cried out, the class grew quiet, and Chiharu seethed.

"You're a no-good, dirty, rotten cheater! You had no right to get the Hokage or your father or whoever to buy your way as a Genin!"

Hikaru stared wide-eyed, and glared, "What are you talking about?! I didn't pay anyone! I won, fair and square! And Takeshi, if you want to fight me, then fight me! Don't make her-"

"He didn't make me do anything!" Chiharu screeched. "He didn't even want me to come here! And you had to have paid them off, otherwise it is Takeshi's right to be Genin!"

Kagura started coming for Chiharu, but Koushiro stopped her. "W-Wait! Kagura-san, look."

He had Takeshi's results in his hand, and was looking down at them as if his life had been a lie. Kagura looked it over, then gasped, "W-what?"

Hikaru glared, "Let me see, Koushiro." Koushiro handed it to him, stepping back. Anyone who hadn't seen stepped closer to Hikaru to see.

As he peered down at the paper, he saw that there were no red marks on the sheet. At the top, in blue, was a one-hundred, circled with a smiley face on the side. Hikaru's heart dropped, and he looked up at Takeshi, who was staring right at him. He stepped forward, snatching the paper and shoving Hikaru against the lockers.

"And I didn't cheat. I'm so glad you want to start "shedding light onto your clan" with this. I don't care if you have the Sharingan, or some special blood, or whatever! Once I reach Genin, in one year, I'll win! And I'll do it without some stupid bloodline limit!" He pushed Hikaru away and stalked off.

Hikaru slouched against the lockers. _Why? If Takeshi got a one-hundred, then why am I…?_

He pulled off his headband and pushed past everyone, running to the headmaster's office.

_This isn't right._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**THE ACADEMY, HEADMASTER'S OFFICE**

"Headmaster!"

Hikaru shoved through the door, not bothering to knock. He stopped short at the sight of the elders – Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane – the Hokage, and his father, Uchiha Sasuke.

Hikaru glared, stepping forward and slamming the door. He held up his results, "What's the meaning of this?! I don't want to be a Genin if it isn't fair!" He glared at his dad, "What did you have to do with this!? Did you really buy my way into this?!"

Sasuke's eyebrows arched, angry. "I don't spoil you. I don't believe in having other people do your work for you. That's why I'm here." He sent a dirty look at the elders.

Hikaru turned his anger to them, "Why did I get promoted? Takeshi got a better score than I did!"

The woman elder, Mitokado-sama, looked away. "Only by a single point. And while we're not too keen on the Uchiha" – she sent a dirty look back at Sasuke, which earned a glare from him and Naruto as well – "we don't exactly believe that Nabari Takeshi is ready."

Hikaru blinked. Takeshi? _Not ready_? Whatever! Takeshi was ready to be a Genin since he was seven! He was strong! And smart! And he was really persistent and determined.

"But-"

"Hikaru, let's discuss this outside."

The several figures in the room turned to Temari, her deadly viridian eyes scorching at him. Hikaru felt an involuntary shiver down his spine – she only ever gave that look when someone was in trouble.

"Temari, we can-"

Temari cut Konohamaru off. "Shut it. You're not being clear. Besides, there are too many biases in this room, and they need to be told without it."

Koharu glared, "We're perfectly able to do this, Misses Nara-"

"It's _Sabaku no Temari._ I'm perfectly aware I married a Nara, content with being married to a Nara, but that doesn't mean my name changes, got it?" Her voice shot needles at him. "Just as the sand is ingrained in me, so is my name. Now, Hikaru, follow me."

Hikaru nodded and began to follow, but the male elder stepped forward, "Now hold on just a-"

Naruto held a hand in front of him. "Don't worry, dattebayo! Temari is all over this!"

Only Hikaru was convinced.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**THE ACADEMY, CLASS 5-C**

She led him back to her classroom, taking a seat on her desk and crossing her legs. He sat across from her, taking the nearest desk. He suddenly remembered that this would be his last time in one of these desks…

"Now," she started. "I haven't told Nabari yet, but I will as soon as I'm finished with you. I'll be frank – you and Nabari are tied. The only reason a point was cut off from your test was because you mixed up two hand signals in the Substitution no Jutsu."

"What?! I did? Which ones?!"

"It's Ram-Boar-Ox-Dog-Snake. You put Ram-Ox-Boar-Dog-Snake."

"…Damn. I was sure I had that one."

"Anyway," she continued. "I'm going to be honest. Right now, I'm in favor of Nabari. The only reason being is because he _did _get a better grade, even if it was only by one point. However, in Suna, one point can make all of the difference. You see, in my village, social skills don't really matter. If you can put up with people and work with them, or even if you can handle all of the work and prove it, then you're set. No one cared that my little brothers were anti-social, no one cared that I was anti-social.

"But _here_, it does matter, apparently. Per normal, Takeshi should have gotten the position. However, we weren't looking for test scores and flawless jutsus. Well, we were, but not just those. There were two other categories: determination and social skills.

"Now, obviously, you two are both determined. I don't care why, but you are. That put you on the same level. But where social skills were concerned, you were higher. Takeshi is… well, the reason they didn't put him up for it is because they think he's a "threat"."

"A _threat_?" Hikaru nearly shouted. "I mean, it sounds accurate, but even then it's not like he's going to blow up the whole village." Why was he standing up for Takeshi? Well, he was happy he got the position, but… not this way.

Temari rolled her eyes and threw her head back, "I don't know. It's beyond my comprehension. I could see it if he were, you know, killing students or carving up voo-doo dolls, but he's not. And believe me, I know what a "threat" is, and that's not it." She rolled her shoulder. "However, I do realize that Nabari isn't… well…"

"Nice? Humane? Mary Poppins?"

"…I was going to say social, but those work. He's not a team player. He refuses to work with people, and is stubborn and a delinquent. You have more of a chance cooperating with your team members, and getting a higher success rate on your missions. If they had told me that and not the "social" versus "anti-social", I might be more lenient with the matter. However, that's not what they're basing it on."

She stepped up and off her desk. "So, are you still going to be a shinobi, regardless?"

Hikaru thought about it. If they were just basing this on the test, then no, it wasn't fair. But after hearing all of that…

"Just… one more question, sensei?"

"Hm?"

"This isn't just because I'm an Uchiha, is it?"

Temari scoffed, "Kid, that's something working _against _you. They don't want an Uchiha on the battlefield, and I hate to say that, but it's the truth. Now, are you going to be a shinobi or not?"

Was he? He had so many plans...

Suddenly, a voice rang in his head.

"_All's fair in love and war!"_

He raised his head, just slightly. He bit his lip and thought for just a moment. For a moment, he seemed hesitant, but then he suddenly shot his head up, determination in his Sharingan eyes.

"I will!"

**OoOoOoOoO**

**ONE YEAR LATER  
KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
KOREAN BAR-BE-QUE HOUSE**

Three students looked up to their sensei, who was sitting across from them.

Inuzuka Kiba gave them a lopsided grin, his tattooed-triangles on his face a dark maroon color. He had shaggy, dark brown hair and piercing black eyes. He wasn't wearing a jounin vest, instead a black leather jacket. He had a pendent around his neck, a pearl, opaque dog-tag.

"Okay, so, guess I should introduce myself. M'name's Inuzuka Kiba. This is my ninken, Akamaru. He's also my best friend." He gestured to a dog who was laying not too far, as he wasn't allowed near the table. Kiba tossed him a piece of a raw steak, which he gobbled up in less than a second. The dog was _huge._

"So, introductions. I guess I just need your name and something you'd like to do as a shinobi. Try to be specific. Oh, and something interesting about you."

The three sat uncomfortably. The one on the left spoke up first. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and he was wearing a high-collared, short sleeved yellowed vest with a black long-sleeved shirt underneath. He was wearing grey shorts as well. Instead of a blue cloth, his hitai-ate was light grey, and it was tied over his brow, his bangs rested comfortably over it.

"My name's Yamanaka Koushiro! I know it's kind of predictable, but I would like to be Hokage, but I'm not really strong. I guess I'd like to become a Jounin so I can have students of my own, you know? Or at least recognized as a great shinobi. I guess that's three things. Um, something interesting… Oh! I can hold my breath for three minutes!"

Kiba laughed, "Haha! Well, that's good. You'll need that as a shinobi. Nice to meet'cha. And you, grouchy?"

He wasn't being rude – well, he was – rather, he was pointing out the obvious. The only girl in the group huffed angrily, "My name isn't grouchy, it's Hagane Kagura. I… well, I don't know exactly what I want to do as a kunoichi, but I don't want to be a medic. I know that for sure. As for something interesting… hmm… well, I made the all-A honor roll in school-"

The boy next to her snorted.

"-AND I HATE HIM." She finished it with a glare, which could probably burn his head off if looks could kill. She was wearing a white shirt; it didn't cover her shoulders at all, except for a black strap connected to her tank top underneath. On the bottom-right corner was a symbol, of what looked like a crane looking downwards but spreading its wings: the Hagane clan's symbol. She was wearing a black skirt and white leggings as well.

Kiba snorted, "Okay, okay, calm down. What about you, stud? What's your name?"

Nabari Takeshi looked up. His icy eyes were strong, determined, but still somehow soft. He now had eleven piercings: a black stud on his lip and two spider bites (one white, the other gray) on his left brow. On his left ear was a small gauge, not big enough to even stick in the tip of a pencil, a silver hoop on the rim, a ladybug just above it, and a little black spike just above that.

On his right ear, there were four as well. On his lobe was a rain-drop, a star on the rim, and another spike, only, it was an industrial piercing. The last piercing was a black rod, stuck on the rim as well. His attire consisted of a tightly woven mesh long-sleeved shirt. He had a pair of white jeans and black ninja shoes. His headband – instead of a blue cloth, it was red – was tied around his forearm.

"Nabari Takeshi. I only have one thing I want to do as a shinobi, and it's sort of a work in progress. In any case, I just want to be strong. As for something interesting… well, I guess you can tell by my piercings, but I'm sort of a problem child."

Kiba blinked, "Yeah. I can tell. What I don't get is that they're all pretty hardcore, but the star and the ladybug throw me off."

Takeshi shrugged, "Take it any way you want."

"Okay. Well, I want to be Hokage as well, Koushiro. As for something interesting… well, I used to be an ANBU operative for several years. So there."

The three stared at him, waiting for him to say anything else.

He cleared his throat, "Well, I can't guarantee I'll be the best teacher in the world, can't say that I'll always be there, but I'll sure as hell try. I want to protect you three, I want to be there for you three. You can come to me with anything, even if it's girl problems. I grew up with two women, so I get it."

Kagura giggled as he pointed at her.

"Um… uh… I want to be serious during training, but I'm not going to expect you three to do everything I tell you. Also, I don't prefer "sensei", but you can address me that way if you want. And I'm pretty lenient on bad attitude, but don't blame me if I hit you, because I don't know how else to punish you.

"Still, I'll do my best, but I'll expect your best. From now on, we'll be the four-man cell, Team Eight. So… any questions?"

No one spoke a word.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**A/N: **FIIIIIIIIIINALLY. It's finished. As for why I ended this with Takeshi's team, well… The story is actually centered around them. This will lead up to chapter one. AND I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW MUCH ENERGY I PUT INTO THIS. I mean, I like how much I put in, but ermegerd. It's eighteen pages. I guess the first was twenty, but that one seemed shorter somehow. I guess not as much happened in that one as how much happened in his this one.

If you're wondering why Kiba's kind of different, it's because I kind of created a back story for him from the time after the war. So don't hate. Honestly, I feel like Kishimoto left a lot of room for Kiba's development in character. He didn't show any progress in the series at all, so I filled up that room.

As for the symbolism, I am dead in that area after this. That entire scene with Hikaru and Takeshi talking in the park… ohmygosh it killed me. *slams head against desk* My head hurts trying to analyze my OWN writing.

But in any case, I FINISHED. AND IT'S DONE. BOOYAH. Haha, until next time!

~Fired Feathers of a Pheonix


	3. Chapter I: To the Land of Fire

**Naruto: Sekai ni Hi o Tsuketa  
Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: **We've arrived at chapter one. Welcome.

This chapter may be a little confusing, as we're going to be jumping from village to village. This story is Naruto: _Sekai _ni Hi o Tsuketa. Translated, Sekai means "world". Although Konoha is the hometown of our main characters – Takeshi and Hikaru – there will be a little more to it.

Since there _are _going to be a lot of characters, I'll make it easy on you. Many of these people won't have last names, unless they're related to a character from the series. At the end, I'll give you a list of the characters introduced, and what village they're from. Just for you guys!

Enjoy!

**OoOoOoOoO**

**Chapter One  
"**To the Land of Fire**"**

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
NARA SHRINE**

"Gyyaaaaaaaa! So-sorry I'm late!"

Three heads turned.

One was significantly older than the rest, with a single, long scar over his brow, that stretched around to just above his left ear. Apparently, the story is someone tried to scalp him back a couple years, and that he managed to save himself by using his infamous Shadow Stitching jutsu, stabbing his foe; but it wasn't until his friend saved him did he get the change to survive.

He had pin-pointed, dark brown eyes that still somehow shone even though they were clearly bored and uninterested. Not many women would call him "desirable" on first sight, and he wasn't the kind of man that wanted that attention. He had long black hair pulled into a tight, high ponytail that made his head resemble a pineapple.

He wore only a green flak jacket, a prize received when one became a Chuunin, although he was a Jounin. His headband was on his forearm, just as it always was.

The other two were pre-teenagers, the boy twelve years old and the girl thirteen. The girl had desirably straight chestnut hair that fell over her left eye. Not because her eye was out of use, or because something was wrong with it, only because it always fell that way. She didn't bother with her hair most of the time, and to prove she really didn't want to, she let a light blue bandanna headband cover it.

She, like the rest of her clan, had upside down red triangles on her cheeks. Her eyes were a piercing black, and she seemed stoic. Not like her sensei, who was completely uninterested, but because she _was _interested. She kept a close eye on what was going on around her, not speaking up unless needed. In her lap was a small puppy, small enough to be able to sit on the top of her head happily and comfortably. He had short fur, that was the color of a golden retriever, and little blue eyes. His ears were perked up upon the entry of the newcomer.

The newcomer had beautiful hair – curly, full of volume, a dark brown color. He had burning, scorching yet euphoric eyes. Although they were red, they were unlike the Uchiha. Many said they were entranced in his eyes, completely unable to say no to him when it really came down to it. He was a beautiful young man, lean and tall, despite only being fourteen. He grinned at the three, waving at them, "Sorry I'm late, Shikamaru-sensei! Took a wrong turn."

…Although, it was known for him to be flaky. He should have passed the test for becoming a Genin two years ago, although he was held back for poor performance. He was an excellent, powerful shinobi, though he had a hard time taking tests. He could follow orders, follow the Shinobi Code of Conduct without any trouble, but give him a test? Yeah, no.

Their sensei, Nara Shikamaru, rolled his eyes, "How troublesome, Yasashi. Next time we're leaving without you."

Sarutobi Yasashi grinned, taking a seat next to the other male kid on his team, "Oh, sensei, I know you love me too much to leave me behind."

The last child of this group, Uchiha Hikaru, sighed. He now wore his hitai-ate over his brow daily, and he was much more built than a year ago. He wore a black t-shirt with a blue over-shirt, which had the Uchiha clan symbol both over his heart and on the back. He was wearing black pants, as well was a necklace that fell on his neck. It used to belong to his kind-hearted uncle, Uchiha Itachi. It was only a metal cord with three black rings strung on it, meant to resemble the three tomoye – the black, comma-like designs within the Sharingan.

"Yasashi, why can't you just get here on time? We don't like waiting for you." He droned this on. He liked Yasashi, he really did, but sometimes he got annoying.

Inuzuka Hanako – the girl on the team – merely stroked Kiiromaru's – the dog's – fur, listening softly.

"I said I was sorry!" Yasashi protested. "And why do we have to meet so early? It's almost nine!"

Shikamaru laid back against a tree, "Because I have things to do later, as troublesome as it is. Believe me, I'd wait if I could. Now that all three of you are here, I want to tell you something."

Hanako raised her head and sat up, her eyebrows raising and cocking her head to the left. She blinked, waiting for him to continue.

"Mm? What is it, sensei?" Hikaru bat his long eyelashes. He had such a flawless complexion, a true face of beauty.

Yasashi raised his hand, "Oh! Oh! I know, I know! Can I tell them?"

"I think you three are ready for the Chuunin Exam." Shikamaru had completely ignored Yasashi's comment (the boy looked absolutely torn that he wasn't able to tell his teammates), but took his attention to them. "I know I told you that you couldn't last year, but this year I'll consider it."

Hikaru's heart rose. A Chuunin?! That would be amazing! It would be far more entertaining than all of the D-Rank and occasional C-Rank missions – more challenging and further away missions. He could show the whole world the Uchiha weren't really bad people.

Besides, his dad promised to tell him the truth about his clan when he became a Chuunin.

Hanako, however, had to rain on his parade, "But we're not ready at all, sensei. Our teamwork is lagging; if Yasashi's not goofing off then Hikaru's trying to do it all himself. I myself haven't quite perfected my techniques, and I'm not sure about it."

Yasashi glared, "You're so mean, Hanako."

"I'm not mean. I'm honest."

"Well, honesty is mean then!"

"Honestly is a virtue, Yasashi, and you should learn it. I highly doubt you "took a wrong turn". It was more like, "I turned off my alarm clock". Am I correct?"

Silence.

"….Seeeeenseeeeei, Hanako is being mean to me!"

Shikamaru smacked his forehead (no one knew how he hadn't made a dent yet). "Yasashi, please stop being loud. Hanako, I know. There are still problems, but I figure if you nitpick like that then you'll never take them. I'll give you three the rest of the day to think about it – tell me tomorrow." He pushed himself up off of the tree.

"Eh- sensei, where are you going?"

He sighed, "I have things to do. That stupid Naruto needs me to come to a council meeting. He said something about "big news". I don't doubt it's nothing."

Hikaru watched his sensei stride lazily away. He sighed, his hair falling on either side of his head. He glanced at his two teammates – Hanako was right. They had little-to-no teamwork. They liked each other and could deal with one another, but in battle they tended to clash.

"Mmmmmm-" Yasashi hummed irritably. He got up to his feet, turning toward them. "So! What do you guys think?"

Hikaru knew exactly what Hanako was going to say.

"I already told you, Yasashi, we're not ready."

The young Uchiha hissed, "Can't you ever say anything that's not negative? I mean, it could be a great opportunity for us."

Hanako planted a small kiss on Kiiromaru's head, earning a small lick on the chin. "I'm aware, Hikaru. And we can't stay Genin forever. But maybe waiting another year will give us some experience."

The boy threw his head back with a groan, sitting up. Hanako was so irritating. She was a nice girl, well, he was sure she had to be somewhere, but she didn't understand anything from his perspective. In fact, she never saw biases. But what people think is a good thing, is actually bad. Because of that "non-biased" personality, she never understood how he – or anyone – felt about anything.

…Maybe she was right. They were strong, but they had little teamwork.

Yasashi looked between the two. "Well – you know, why don't we think about this? We'll go to lunch or something, and then… well, you know. We'll figure out something, like we always do!"

Although flaky, Yasashi was better company than the shrewd Hanako. He was sweet and could look to the brighter side of things – unless you brought up his father, but that was the only time he ever looked down. Most of the time, he was a kind, considerate person.

Hanako took a deep breath, "We should think about it away from one another – we can't let one person's decision effect the rest of us. And before you yell at me, Hikaru, I will consider the possibility of taking the exam." She picked up her small puppy, cradling it in her arms. "I'm going to my uncle's house if you need me."

The two watched her walk away without another word. Hikaru closed his eyes. Maybe Hanako was right. They all had to think about this seriously, away from one another.

"Well! I guess that just leaves you and me, Hika- hey, where are you going?"

Hikaru began to head off, waving back, "She's right, Yasashi. I'm going to think about this on my own. I'll see you later."

"Oh… Well, okay. See you tomorrow."

Yasashi watched him walk away, kicking lamely at the dirt.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**IWAGAKURE, EARTH COUNTRY  
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING**

It was a magnificent view.

The tallest tower of Iwagakure, the Administration building, home to the Tsuchikage and his offices. Many people – shinobi and civilian alike – came through here for their own business. Whether it was their job, as an ANBU, or just a field trip for school kids, everyone knew about it. Many passed it daily, seeing as it was near the center of the village.

Surrounding this tower, beautiful mountains and waterfalls could be seen even on to the horizon. The Village Hidden in the Earth lived up to its name, finding valleys and crevasses in the mountains as its resting place. All of the towers and homes were name of earth, not clay huts but huge, towering buildings that were all made my Earth-style shinobi.

The clouds flew just above the tower, and if you could just reach another ten feet up you could feel them, taste them. The air was cool and humid, but satisfying whether for their people.

Hironori contemplated this as he stood on the balcony of this breath-taking tower, this beautiful village. It was _his _now, all his. The people, the money, the fame… Each and every aspect belonged to him and him alone.

A smile crept to his face as the people below applauded. They were all mutts, patiently yet ignorantly waiting for their master's call. They were all so small compared to him now. Insects.

He raised a hand, and the volume grew, "My people!" He called. "Today begins the rise of the Earth, the fall of those who looked down on us. From now on, our village will be predominant. And I, your Tsuchikage, will lead you there. I mourn the end of our beloved Oonoki-sama, and I pray he does well. He did many great things for this village, and I hope I can live up to those standards." Ugh. He hated having to praise that old, dying loser. How did that man even manage to live another nine months? It was beyond him.

"However, I will try my best, but only if my followers are behind me every step of the way. I am grateful you chose me as your leader."

The crowd roared, but he knew someone who wasn't cheering. Ah, well, Kurotsuchi was always a bug in his way. So what if her grandfather was the old Tsuchikage? That didn't mean anything. He was better than her.

He waved, "Thank you all!" And he turned, heading back to the glass doors behind him. A single ANBU stood there, opening the door for him, and then following him once he made it in. The second the glass shut, Hironori wondered, "Are we alone?"

"Yes, Hironori-sama."

Hironori rolled his eyes and threw the Tsuchikage hat off of him, only to be caught by the ANBU. He took off the Kage robes, revealing his bare body. "Get my clothes."

"Yes, Hironori-sama." Like a machine, the ANBU picked up the robes neatly and folded them, setting them on a small table nearby. He then strode over to a closet, taking out a black shirt and a red chest-guard, and a pair of boxers and grey pants. He presented the articles of clothing to Hironori, who glanced them over and nodded.

As he dressed Hironori, he said, "Your speech was very… lively, Master Hironori."

"Pft," he spat, his beautifully straight blonde hair just falling past his shoulder blades. "It was just for show. Don't mistake me for some light-hearted fool."

"Of course, Hironori-sama."

They stood in silence while the ANBU finished dressing the Tsuchikage, and as he finished, Hironori pulled his hair out of his shirt. He turned to the ANBU, "Remove your mask."

The ANBU nodded, "Yes, Master Hironori." He unclipped the tiger-themed mask, his raven hair falling around him. There was a patch of his bangs shaved off, revealing a tattoo. It had been carved into him years ago – a small, black sparrow with a little sakura flower in its' beak. His eyes were a light green, sparkling up at his master. He was sixteen years old, three years junior to Hironori.

"Kageki, I have a mission for you." Hironori moved to his desk, taking a seat on his desk and propping his legs against one of the visitor chairs.

Kageki knelt down and bowed his head, waiting for him to continue.

"You're going to the Chuunin Exams."

Kageki blinked, confused. He raised his head, "Pardon, milord? I took those years ago, alongside you."

Hironori tossed his head back, his neck craned upwards, "I know that, dummy. But now I'm downgrading you to a Genin so you have an excuse to go over there. I'll need information if my plans will fall through like I plan."

"Information?"

"Oh, you know, I just need the little things. The layout of the village, the new generation of fighters, the old generation – anything you can gather for battle strategies. There are a couple of people I'd like you to look out for, just because I feel they'll be problems later on." He combed his nails on his scalp, his eyes narrowing and his other hand clenching into a fist.

The ANBU nodded, taking it in. Of course they would be no match for the Hokage, so they'd have to get him some other way besides fighting him head-on. Maybe they could poison him? No, that would be too easy to pick out. Plus, there was Uchiha Sasuke in the village…

"What people do you have in mind, milord?"

The new Tsuchikage seemed to mull it over. He wouldn't look down at Kageki, still on one knee. "Well…" He began. "To start, look for anyone strong – no matter what village. Get a detailed report on each of them – personalities and techniques. But the ones in particular…"

A small, sly smile spread on his lips.

"Aoi of the Mist, Uchiha Hikaru of the Leaf, and Yuki of the Rain – all three of them should be participating this year. My spies have told me they should be there. If not, then no matter. We'll get to them sooner or later."

Kageki nodded, "As you wish, Hironori-sama. Who will I be participating with?"

"People who don't know you, which won't be hard. They won't know of your mission. Their names are Himeji and Tohru; they're three years junior to you. …Oh! I nearly forgot!" He jumped up, pulling open a desk drawer. He slipped out a file, and threw it at Kageki's feet.

"A… _business partner _of mine wanted to get some information on him. If you can, then by all means, but if not, it won't affect us."

"Business partner?" He wondered. He didn't know who in the heck Hironori was talking about.

Hironori remained silent for a moment. His blue eyes were swimming with… something, but what it was, Kageki wasn't sure. His master was an expert at hiding things.

"I haven't told you to protect you, Kageki, and that's all you need to know. Am I clear?"

Once again, he spoke like a robot, "...Yes, Hironori-sama."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**SUNAGAKURE, WIND COUNTRY  
COUNCIL OFFICE**

The meeting ended per usual, and all of the old, stingy men of the council began to get up and leave. Gaara had his arms folded, his expression impassive as ever. He glanced down at the papers in front of him – some paperwork he brought to keep himself busy while the councilmen argued. He grew weary of their meaningless debates; debates that, for the most part, had already been solved.

Sajo and Ryusa made their way out, talking quietly amongst themselves. The two of them tended to agree on certain things. As Goza stood, Gaara looked to him.

"Goza-san, would you let Kankuro and Kouji in?" He knew they were waiting outside for the meeting to finish.

Goza seemed a little wary, but nodded. "Of course, Kazekage-sama."

Gaara gave him a nod of the head as a gesture of thanks, sitting back and letting his head back. He knew what the two of them wanted, he just… wasn't sure yet. As the two stepped in – Kankuro still wearing that cat-hat and face paint get-up and Kouji as calm as always – Gaara sat properly. He leaned one elbow on the table, resting his lip on his knuckle.

"What is it?" He wondered, always to the point.

Kankuro's face was in in disgust – probably wishing for Gaara to be friendlier. Kouji gave a slight bow, and said softly, "My apologies, Kazekage-sama, but Kankuro and I wanted to bring up a matter with you about the upcoming Chuunin Exams."

"You wish for Kago and Giroro to enter them?"

His voice was venomous. He had already told them that they weren't ready, that it was too soon for them. They needed another year, or two, or three… or never – never worked.

Kankuro and Kouji exchanged glanced, and the former took over. "Gaara, I know you're not sure, but we see them on the battlefield all of the time. Giroro takes after you with that sand of his; and Kago is… well, she won't shut up about going. She's ready for it, too. More than ready."

Gaara closed his eyes, standing up, "And the other four?"

Kouji nodded, "Kairi and Kizu are set."

"I keep telling you Chiaki and Loki are strong. Loki's an idiot and Chiaki's a know-it-all, so the three balance out."

If Gaara had an eyebrow, he would have raised it; but since he didn't, his face remained in a facade. His spindrift eyes closed, and he mulled it over.

"Aw, come on, Gaara! All of their missions have been successful, and completed with no problems. You know the twins more than anyone! Kago's intuitive and reliable. And Giroro's smart and determined." Kankuro seemed to be at his wit's end. He and his little brother had been arguing about this for months.

Kouji held a hand up to silence Kankuro, "Lord Kazekage, I am aware they are still young, but if they don't go now, they'll never learn. Even though they're on separate teams, they refuse to draw away from one another. They need to stop relying on one another, and I believe the Chuunin Exams would be good for that. It helped you, didn't it, Kazekage-sama?"

Kankuro grinned, _Kouji, you are a genius. Bringing up that is sure to convince him._

For a moment, it didn't. Gaara's face was completely expressionless. But he opened his eyes and gave a nod.

"Very well. This year, Kago and Giroro will participate in the Chuunin Exams."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**AMEGAKURE, RAIN COUNTRY  
PEIN'S TOWER**

He tossed his head back, the rain softly settling on his skin.

Many would scoff and call him treacherous for sitting so casually on the house of their God. No one was allowed up here, and he was no exception to the rule. But this place was just so comfortable, so close to the sky, and so quiet. He could see how Lord Pein once came up here often. He wondered why their God just so suddenly disappeared. According to the rumors, he could even stop the rain.

Not that he knew why someone would want to do that. The rain in this country was so delicate, so beautiful, yet empowering and strong. Thunder loomed in the distance, and he wondered if he should even be standing up on this metallic tower…

"Ah, well," He laid back on the structure – it was in the shape of a tongue, the entire tower the shape of a face. His blue eyes looked up, crystal clear and soft. He smiled at the sight of the face on the tower, piercings glimmering in the city lights from below. "It's alright, Lord Pein, we haven't forgotten you. Nor have we forgotten our Angel, Konan…"

He was well-aware that Konan and Pein were human, mortal like himself. But the power to believe was still within him. He read stories of them, after scouring through the tower. A story of three orphans, written by Konan herself.

The smile vanished from his face. It said their old friend, Yahiko, cursed the rain of the country. He called the rain tears. But he couldn't imagine the rain being anything but good, a source of clarity and purity. It washed away all of the evil things in the world… Amegakure was a good place.

He wouldn't let all of their failed actions go in vain. All of the sacrifices they made, the horrible scenes they endured to get this far… Even if they were dead, their dreams lived on.

Sometimes, Yuki hoped they lived on in him. Most of the time, he really thought that these books, these remains of dead people, were his only friends. The only ones who really saw him for himself…

"Yuki-chaaaaaaan! Where are you?"

Yuki groaned, sitting up and looking down. Although this was the tallest tower in Ame, they were many nearby that were built. One of them was the Observation Tower, built for two reasons: one, surveillance of the village, and two, so one could admire the Tower of Pein from close up. Many went there to pray.

Except for _her, _who decided to use it to look for him.

He looked away, scooting backwards so that it looked like he was heading into the mouth of the tower. He made his way inside, hiding from her. He rolled his eyes. He would deal with her soon enough, just not right now. He still had to prepare for the Chuunin Exams.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
CITY STREETS**

Hikaru had his hands folded behind his back, eyes trained on the ground. The Chuunin Exams would be difficult, especially without a well-oiled team… But still, he would get nowhere this way. If only he knew what he had to do in the Chuunin Exams, then maybe he could get some strategy ready and convince Hanako…

He rolled his eyes. Yeah, right. It would take a miracle to convince that girl.

"Hikaru! Hey, Hikaru! Over here- whoa!"

Hikaru turned, expecting to see Yasashi, but surprised when his eyes fell on Koushiro. He smiled, "Koushiro! It's been awhile!" He didn't really want to talk to anyone, but he was an old friend. Koushiro probably had some good advice ready for him, anyway.

Koushiro came to a shaky stop in front of Hikaru, panting heavily. He lifted his head with a smile, and said something, but Hikaru didn't hear it. He was staring at Koushiro's forehead. "Ko- wha, you, you have a hitai-ate!"

Said blonde boy blinked, his blue Yamanaka eyes shimmering. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Three months ago! I guess we really haven't talked in a while, huh? I've been busy with missions and training and stuff."

Hikaru smiled, "Glad you made it. Did you get on a team with Chiharu, like you wanted?" Koushiro's head fell and he moaned painfully. "…I'm going to take that as a no, then? Who did you get on a team with?"

It seemed for a moment that Koushiro couldn't speak – rather, he didn't _want _to speak. He scratched the back of his head and smiled, "Well, I got on a team with Kagura-san!"

Hikaru rolled his eyes with a smile, "Well, that's good. A little wild, but she's nice." Koushiro nodded, then looked away. "And let me guess – Juruko? Ryosuke?"

"…Actually, those two failed the test for cheating. And, erm, it's, uh…"

"You got Takeshi, didn't you?"

Koushiro hung his head again and moaned… again.

"I'll take that as a yes. Has he been causing problems?" Hikaru would take care of it if necessary. That Takeshi was always a problem.

"Well, er, no, actually. It's just that he and Kagura-san argue and bicker… a lot. He's brought us a long way from just three months ago. We've already gone on three C-Ranks!"

Hikaru blinked. Three C-Ranks? Well, he went on several C-Ranks in his first year, but he only went on one in the first three months. Pft. Takeshi must have insited time and time again. Either that or their sensei was crazy. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah! And we're going to be in the Chuunin Exams this year!"

If Hikaru had been drinking something, he'd have spat it out in Koushiro's face. Luckily, he wasn't, so instead, his jaw dropped. "Wha- really?" It was all he could muster. What kind of person was their sensei? "You mean, your sensei is letting you?"

Koushiro nodded, "Mm-hm. I'm a little worried though. Sensei and Takeshi are close, so Takeshi probably convinced him somehow. I don't know if I'm ready… But, you know, even if we fail we'll just try again!" He flashed Hikaru a bright smile as they walked. "But you'd probably have a better chance than us. Are you taking the exams?"

He wanted to say yes so that Koushiro could go back to Takeshi and tell him. But he still wasn't sure. "Well, it's a definite possibility, but I have to get my stupid teammate to agree with us."

"Hm? Is he not wanting to do it?"

"_She," _he corrected, "is insistent that we're not ready."

Koushiro watched him, "Maybe she just doesn't want you guys to get hurt."

The young Uchiha shook his head, "No, that's not really her reasoning behind anything. She's… well, she's apathetic. She won't do something if the facts aren't in her favor." He took a long sigh, "It figures I got an Inuzuka on my team – she's stubborn and used to dominance. But she's also the only one who doesn't explode her feelings out to the world, so I never know what she's thinking."

His friend listened patiently, "Mm, not true. Sure, Inuzuka-sensei is out there, but he's pretty reserved when he needs to be."

"You got an Inuzuka for a sensei? What's his name?"

"Kiba."

"Oh, that's Hanako's uncle."

"Really? Oh, then I've met her! She's so nice! A little quiet, but her dog is so cute!" He beamed, as if recalling himself meeting her. "Sensei talks about her a lot. She seems mean, but she means well. Maybe you should just try and listen to her?"

Hikaru mulled it over. He had already considered not taking it, but he really wanted to take the exams. Besides, as Koushiro said, if they failed then they could just try again. He closed his eyes, "Yeah, you're right. I'll think it over." As always, Koushiro had the best advice.

"I'm glad you- oh, no! What time is it?"

"It's only ten, Koushiro." What could Koushiro possibly be late for?

"Oh, I have to go! Training started two hours ago! I woke up late, but then I saw you- and I have to go now!" He backpedalled, turning around and nearly smacking into a woman carrying groceries. Koushiro gasped and helped her catch the bag, "O-Oh, I'm so sorry ma'am! So, sorry sorry!"

Hikaru smiled sympathetically and shook his head, turning away. _He's a klutz. I'm just glad he's a nice klutz._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KUMOGAKURE, LIGHTNING COUNTRY  
SKYLIGHT APARTMENT COMPLEX**

"Oh! Careful with that box, Kirouko-nii!"

Fifteen year old Kirouko nearly dropped a cardboard box, which had two boxes balanced on that one. He managed it, somehow, but his arms were still shaky.

"You know, I wouldn't be having a problem if _some girls _were helping!" He shouted his, one of his black dreadlocks nearly getting caught in the door as a little girl slammed it shut behind her, locking him out.

"HEY! I'M STILL OUT HERE!"

The door re-opened, revealing a ten-year-old girl with pale skin and raven hair. She smiled, her blue eyes apologetic, "Sorry, sorry. I'm trying to figure out where everything's going to go, Kirouko-nii."

Kirouko glared, "That doesn't mean it's okay to slam the door on me!"

Suddenly, a girl with snow-white hair and dark skin appeared from behind the tiny girl, her dark fushia eyes looking down at him.

"What are you looking at, Chie?"

The door was promptly slammed in his face. Again.

You could hear him shouting, "HEY! WHAT'S UP WITH YOU!? LET ME IN, CHIE!"

Chie rolled her eyes, pulling at the end of her baggy, white long sleeved t-shirt. "Ignore him, Kisa. He'll figure out how to work the door." She turned away, flipping her hair behind her.

Kisa seemed torn, "But he has my things…"

"And once he sets them down he'll realize how easy it is to open a door. Now, where did you want to sleep until we can clean out the storage room? You're welcome to sleep in my room."

The little girl bit her lip. She didn't really want to sleep in Chie's room – mostly because the girl had booby traps in there. One time she slept over, and needed to get a glass of water in the middle of the night. She wasn't thinking and took a wrong step, and if she hadn't slipped on some marbles she would have had senbon lodged in her throat.

She smiled, "Um, no thanks. I think I'll just sleep in Kirouko-nii's room."

Chie nodded, "Very well. But if my little brother gives you trouble, then just come to me. I'll destroy him for you."

"R-Right…" A shaky laugh escaped her lips. She turned away, closing her eyes. Outside she could hear Kirouko struggling with the door, so she turned back despite what Chie said. She was lucky she had these two; if she didn't, she would be stuck in an orphanage right now. She just wished she didn't have to move at all, that her parents were still here…

She pulled the door open, and met eyes with Kirouko's dark ones, "Oh! THANKS FOR COMING." Sarcasm was dripping in his voice. He forced his way in, before the door could be slammed in his face a third time. "Thanks, Kisa. I know I can count on you." He shot a glare at his older sister, "Unlike some people I know."

"Shut up, Kirouko, and make yourself useful. There are still four boxes downstairs."

"WHY DON'T YOU GO GET THEM!? I've carried up at least fifteen of these things." He set the boxes down, heaving a huge sigh. He rolled his shoulder painfully. "Damn, what did you pack? Dumbbells?" He forced a box open, revealing dumbbells. "…Why did you pack dumbbells?"

"For training!" Kisa cheered, and Chie snorted. Kirouko slapped his forehead.

"Geez, the shit I get from you too…. Huh? What's that sound?"

It sounded like something tapping on glass. Chie turned to the window, which made up the entire left wall. Although it was a small place, it was way up high in the clouds. It was foggy outside, so it was hard to see the bird that was tapping on the window. Chie managed to see it, though, and clicked the window open, letting the bird fly through. It didn't land, however, it just dropped a paper with a gold seal on it, then flew out.

Chie clicked the window shut again and inspected the letter. "Lord Raikage has summoned us."

Kisa blinked, "All three of us?"

"Yeah. Jouta, Mao, and Masayu too…" Her voice trailed off.

"Nn? What's wrong, sis?" Kirouko wondered, turning his neck around.

Chie looked up at them, their eyes fierce, "It says we've been chosen to go to the Chuunin Exams."

Kisa and Kirouko couldn't find the words.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KIRIGAKURE, WATER COUNTRY  
UNION BASE**

Aoi was in awe.

Now, before we get into why he was in awe, one would have to backtrack to several years ago, to a brief period where the Mist was in peace. It was after the Fourth Shinobi War, a three year time period, probably the longest the Mist had ever experienced of peace. They were built on blood, of course, and if people weren't rebelling then there was horror in the council.

Near the end of this peaceful time period, Terumi Mei, the Godaime Mizukage, had begun to think over the Academy's programming of their future shinobi. Instead of having them ruthlessly kill their comrades to single out the weak, she decided to teach them much like Konoha does. Whether this was for the better of her village or for the better of her newly-born daughter, no one would never really know.

This, however, did not settle well with many of the Old-Fashioned shinobi, who would later be called the rebels. They, well, to be blunt, rebelled against the Mizukage in violent ways. The biggest one of that day, however, was the Red Street Massacre. Many say you couldn't see the street, or any of the buildings. Many of the bodies just looked like rocks floating on a red river.

Only four people survived that day – Chojuro, who killed the men who caused the event, an old woman who had a heart attack during the endeavor and was left for dead but really wasn't, the Mizukage, and a small child with black hair and little blue eyes. Aoi. Anyone who didn't live on that street were absolutely disgusted and horrified. Well, then there were people who rejoiced in that day, and were promptly found and executed for treason against the state.

It's safe to say no one was happy. People picked sides after that day. Anyone who wanted Kirigakure to exist on the phrase, "Build the Country on Blood" were considered Rebels. Anyone who wished for there to be peace, for the bloodshed to end, were on the Union side. The Rebels moved north, the Union south, and thus began a civil war.

Not that there was anything "civil" about it.

But, let's backtrack, just after the Red Street Massacre. Aoi woke up as they cleaned the street, picking up bodies and setting them on a wagon. He had suddenly forgotten who he was, why he was there, or what his name even was. All he could remember was that he had to protect the swords he carried.

A little girl, by the name of Terumi Kiri – the Mizukage's daughter – had one way or another weaseled her way into the gore of it all. She didn't seem afraid, just sad. She was crying as she watched him, not aware that he was actually awake. He mumbled something, what it was, he wasn't sure, but she snapped out of her tears.

Long story short, she saved him after that day. She gave him a home and a name – Aoi – and became his best friend. Along with another boy, Jinta, informally known as "Jin-tan" by Kiri.

He was just as old as Aoi, which meant they were both five at the time. (Kiri was only two.) He was a scrawny little boy, with a bright smile that came with witty remarks. He was sweet and caring to both of them, and promised they were best friends.

That is, until he left with his father. To be a part of the Rebels.

It tore Aoi apart – more than the sickening dreams of the Massacre, the nightmares that left him screaming at night. It hurt more than when Kiri cried – which still hurt him – and made him shy away from anyone who wasn't Kiri.

He left years ago, so long ago Aoi almost forgot what Jinta's face looked like. He was sixteen now, nearly eleven years later. But here they stood. Face to face, eleven years later.

He certainly looked different – he still had his fiery, gravity-defying orange hair, and his shimmering gray eyes. But he was more built; lean and muscular, covered in the occasional scar from… well, Aoi didn't know where they came from. Jinta was also tall, very tall. He was a couple inches taller than Aoi now. He had the Executioner's Blade on his back, black gloves over his hands.

But it wasn't seeing him again that threw him off – okay, it played a big part in it, but still – it was the fact that the lady Mizukage had let them in right in front of them. She said to them quite some time back that she had a spy in the rebels, but they never knew who it was. She said that she wanted them to meet him today, and that he was going to be participating in the Chuunin Exams with them.

They just didn't expect it to be _him. _

He blinked, "Whoa, Kiri, Aoi… I didn't think I'd see you two again." His voice was deeper, nothing like Aoi remembered. This wasn't Jinta, it wasn't. Not the old Jinta, he was the enemy.

But Kiri, obviously, didn't think that way. She blinked twice, then gasped, "W-Wait, you're Jin-tan! From the old pictures! Jin-tan! You're here!" Well, of course she wouldn't remember him. She was too young to remember.

Aoi reached his hand to stop her, but it was too late. Her dark red flaming hair flew back as she raced forward, jumping into Jinta's arms. Jinta seemed surprised for a moment, but smiled, and hugged her back gently.

"I missed you!" Kiri cried, as if she never forgot him, and that she spoke of him often. Which, Aoi knew, she never did. "I missed you so much, Jin-tan! Don't leave again! Promise me!"

It was just like her to get down to the point. Jinta let out a soft breath that was meant to be a laugh, and hugged her tighter. "Oh, Kiri, I missed you too. And I promise, I'll never leave again. I promise." Kiri managed to nod in his arms, her face buried in his chest.

Jinta smiled, and suddenly he looked old, like the years had weighed on him. He smiled up at Aoi, but the favor wasn't returned.

Aoi looked away, combing his black hair back with his fingers. He didn't dare do it. He wasn't going to warm up to Jinta, no matter what.

Because Jinta screwed him over once, and he wasn't about to let it happen again.

_Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**?UNKNOWN?**

The room is dark. There's only a single candle lighting the room, and it's just next to the bed. On the bed is a sickly man, but it is too dark to see his face or anything about him. All you can see is his hand, several IVs plugged into his veins.

The silence seems endless, but suddenly the man chuckles. "Come in, dear."

The door clicked open, revealing a woman with short black hair and black eyes. Her skin is pale, and she's carrying a tray of food. On her ankle is a line of illegible kanji – a mark that binds her to the man on the bed.

"My lord," she seethed, setting down the tray and checking on the IVs.

He chuckled, "Try not to sound too happy about seeing me."

"Believe me, I don't."

He laughed harder, his face turning away from the candle again. As she shuffled through the room, checking the machines to save the man's life, the man she hated the most, he grew quiet.

After a couple of moments of staring at the ceiling, he wondered, "How is he?"

"…He's doing well." She seemed reluctant to answer.

A smile spread to his lips, "Good. I want you to being him to me."

The woman gasped, nearly dropping his food. "W-what? Why?" She demanded.

"He's ready for his mission."

"…Mission?"

"Of course." He smiled. "His mission to destroy Konoha."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
NARA SHRINE**

"All right, so what did you three decide on?"

On one hand, Shikamaru didn't want them to say "we're going". Once they all became Chuunin, he would have to entrust the Will of Fire to them, and he didn't want to. Not because he didn't think they were capable, oh, no, they were capable a long time ago. But even still, they were his students and it would be hard to let them go. He wondered if Asuma ever felt like this.

But on the other hand, he knew they had to. The countries weren't as stable – especially with Hironori in charge of Iwagakure now, and the Rebels nearing victory in the war over in Kirigakure. And then there was intelligence of a new terrorist group forming… He didn't know who they were or what they were up to, but it was no good, he knew that. They needed every shinobi they had. And Hikaru and the other two were strong.

Plus, being Genin were holding them back.

He stared down at the three of them, who all seemed rather determined. Well, except for Yasashi, who seemed uncomfortable. Usually Hanako and Hikaru freaked him out with these fights of theirs. Well, they didn't really verbally fight or physically fight… but it was obvious they didn't get along as well as they should.

"Hikaru," Shikamaru started when he realized they wouldn't. "You begin because I'm almost sure of your answer."

Hikaru nodded, "I accept. I want to start the exams." Troublesome. Having an Uchiha on his team was not something he expected, and definitely not something he wanted. Having Sasuke's son for a student was going to attract trouble.

Yasashi smiled awkwardly, "Well, I suppose then I want to. I'm sure it'll be fun!" Oh, Yasashi. He was only doing it because Hikaru was so set on it. He didn't want to start a fight. Yasashi was a good kid, smart like his mother and kind like his father.

The three turned to Hanako. "Your call, Hanako." Hanako wasn't a student he was expecting. He really didn't take to Inuzukas… or dogs… so she was a troublesome woman. Still, she was probably the most level-headed of the group.

The girl seemed to glance over at her teammates. She drew in a deep sigh, "I thought it over. On one hand, we could be better prepared. We could be stronger. But on the other hand… we've waited a long time as it is. And… well, what's to lose?"

"So your answer is…?" Hikaru smiled at her, pleading.

Hanako sighed, holding Kiiromaru close. She gave a defeated smile, "I give, I give. Let's go to the exam."

Hikaru jumped up, pumping his fist in the air, "YES! Yes, thank you Hanako!"

The girl smiled and shook her head, and Kiiromaru began to wag her tail happily. The dog yipped happily and Yasashi laughed gratefully (no fights!).

Shikamaru, however, wasn't celebrating. The moment Hanako said "yes", a sick feeling settled in his stomach.

This was going to be troublesome.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**A/N: **Oooooooowwwwwwww…. That hurt. A lot. I finished that within 2-3 days. I didn't even know I COULD do that. So many writing juices have been killed. But still, that's been three posts in eight days. Not bad on my part. Not bad at all. *laughs to self*

Okay, I know. You're confused as heck because of all the things going on. This is sort of like an extra prologue (?) I guess. For the most part, I introduced many main characters and plot lines. As I promised, here you go:

**Konohagakure**_**: **__Shikamaru_: Hikaru (12), Hanako (13), Yasashi (14). _Kiba: _Takeshi, Koushiro, Kagura (all 12)  
**Iwagakure: **Hironori (19), Kageki (16), Himeji and Tohru (both 13)  
**Sunagakure: **_Kankuro: _Giroro (13), Kairi (14), Kizu (13). _Kouji _(27): Kago, Loki, Chiaki (all 13)  
**Amegakure: **Yuki (16)  
**Kumogakure: **Chie, Masayu (15). Jouta, Mao, Kirouko (14). Kisa (10)  
**Kirigakure: **Aoi and Jinta (16). Kiri (13)

And those are really the only characters I've mentioned/introduced without giving a lot away. You can use that as a reference to remember people. Now, I am about to die. It's 11:41 at night and I – like a good kid – have school tomorrow. And I have yet to do my homework. So! Tell me what you thought of this in a review!

Until next time!  
~Fired Feathers of a Pheonix


	4. Chapter II: One Day More

**Naruto: Sekai ni Hi o Tsuketa  
Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: **Okay. Chapter two. I've been busy lately with my sister's baby shower and art projects and tests on subjects I don't quite understand… In any case, this last week has NOT been fun. My other sister – who helped co-create this – is in town though, so my inspiration is fuming again! Hopefully this will get done sooner or later.

In any case, enough about me. Let's get onto the story! I don't know where I'm going to go with this chapter, but I assume I'll get… somewhere? Yep. Sounds good. *laughs* But seriously, let's get started.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**Chapter** **Two**  
"One Day More"

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
UCHIHA HOUSEHOLD**

Juugo was tending to the garden as he usually did. After the Fourth Shinobi War, he stayed faithful to Sasuke and became a member of the Konohagakure. He didn't enlist as a shinobi, rather, as a citizen, and became the gardener of the Uchiha household. He usually did the chores, the outside work, and ran errands for the Uchiha family.

Most of the time, however, Juugo was there to entertain the kids.

"Juuuuugo-saaaaan," eight-year old Akira whined, kicking her legs in the koi pond. "I'm bored. When is nii-san getting home?"

"He is very busy, Akira-hime. He is preparing for the Chuunin Exams." Juugo merely stated, letting his fingers run over one of the Azalea flowers. This one was drooping, but he wasn't sure why. Maybe it wasn't feeling well? He hoped that the caterpillars wouldn't come back. The nearly killed all of his Hydrangeas last month.

"But he's _my _brother, he should love me more than school." She made a pout, grumbling about some evil injustice. She had long hair like her mother's, but it was black like her father's. Being an Uchiha, she had black eyes, her Sharingan not yet awakened. She wore overalls with a white shirt underneath, the Uchiha symbol on her sleeve.

Juugo stepped away from the Azaleas, his pumpkin orange eyes laying on Akira. He glared at her feet in the water, and she sighed, pulling them out. "Stingy," she muttered. Juugo seethed at her.

...He wasn't a kid person. But still, Sasuke asked him to watch on them when he wasn't around, so he had no choice but to put up with the little she-demon.

He sighed and turned away, his cloak flying behind him. "Are you hungry?" He wondered. ANYTHING to keep the girl's mouth occupied.

"No," she grumbled, sensing his reasoning. But then suddenly, her black eyes sparkled, and she jumped up. "Jin! Jin, Jin's home! Jin!" She jumped up and scrambled, running to go hug a man who entered the premises. He was twenty years old, his hair a bright green color. His eyes were a captivating, shimmering blue. He had been Sasuke's student for about nine years now. Both Uchiha children knew him growing up, and adored him.

He smiled brightly as she tackled his leg. He laughed, "It's nice to see you, Akira. Hello, Juugo-san."

Juugo gave a nod of the head, and asked, "You're here to see Sasuke-sama?"

Jin raised an eyebrow, "Well, actually, I came to see you, Juugo. But if you don't want me here..." He started turning away.

"No!" Akira cried, clutching to him for dear life. Jin laughed and ruffled her hair.

"Relax, kid, I'm not going anywhere." He heaved her up and into his chest, and she slid his arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He smiled at Juugo, "Is sensei here? Or is he at the office?" Sasuke worked very often, long, hard hours. Between raising kids, training students, working the Police Force, he had very little time to go anywhere else.

Juugo gestured to the outside of the house, "He's at his office. He had several meetings today."

"Oh. Okay. Can you pass on a message for me?"

"Sure. What is it?" He used to hate all three of Sasuke's students - Jin was too sour, Ume was too peppy, and Yoshi was all bark and no bite. But after Yoshi... passed... Jin became lighter. He could tolerate him now. He still had to hold himself back when Ume was around, but she was better. He hated to say it - well, actually, no he didn't - but Yoshi's death was the best thing that happened to them.

But he would never in a million years voice it aloud. Sasuke would murder him.

And he didn't even _want_ to know what Jin would do to him.

"Just let him know I got back from my mission alright, and that I need to talk to him."

Juugo nodded, "Okay."

Jin started to set Akira down, but the little girl whined and kicked, "Noo! Jin, you can't leave! I'm so bored and nii-san isn't home!"

"Hn?" Jin hummed. "Where is Hikaru?"

"Training for some stupid exam!"

"...Exam?"

"The Chuunin Exams," Juugo offered, picking up a watering can.

Jin seemed a bit struck, like he hadn't expected it. Sasuke made the three of them wait two years to take it, so why did Hikaru only have to wait one? Plus, Hikaru was... well, he was so strong and able, but he was like a little brother to him. He didn't want Hikaru to go through that alone...

...Not that he would be alone, he had his team, but still.

Jin sighed. He had to ask Sasuke. He smiled at Akira, "How about you and I head over to your dad's work?"

Akira beamed, "Yeah! Let's go!"

"Mind if I steal her for a whi-"

Juugo cut Jin off. "No problem. Take her."

The two blinked as he headed to the backyard, not bothering to wave them off. Jin sighed, "Some people never change, I guess."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
POLICE DEPARTMENT, CHIEF OFFICE**

"...What in the world possessed you to break into a house and steal a woman's undergarments?" Sasuke was pinching the bridge of his nose, the boy in front of him smiling with pride. This boy was a regular in his office, and he pissed Sasuke off on a daily basis. _Juvenile piece of... _

Jiri shrugged, "Dunno. One second I was a good citizen, minding my own business, the next, the panties were just in my hands. I am very shocked at myself, honestly I am." He had this huge grin on his face, which told Sasuke otherwise. He just shook his head at the boy.

"Four times in two weeks I've had to deal with you, and I'm pretty sure I should have spoken with you more." Sasuke sighed, thinking it over for a moment. "Fine. I think I have a better punishment for you."

"Oh! You're going to send me to dinner with your wife?"

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed, but other than that, his expression didn't change from the norm... but that might have been scarier than if he showed his anger.

Jiri sank in his seat, "Fine, fine. What's my punishment this time, warden?"

"Community service."

"...That's it?"

"That's it."

Jiri snorted, "Fine by me! What do I have to do? Clean up a street, walk an old lady across a street? ...Is it street related?"

Sasuke snapped a folder shut, sitting back with a sigh. "No, I wouldn't let you out onto society without me watching. No, you'll be helping with this year's Chuunin Exams."

Jiri blinked his yellow eyes. "Why THAT? I took that test four times, and failed all four times. What in the heck makes you think I could help with it?"

"I didn't say you would be conducting the exams - everyone would pass because you're too lenient. I would just like a little more security on the Second Exam." After what happened in his Chuunin Exam, he was worried someone might infiltrate the village and do to Hikaru what was done to him. He didn't want to help his son in the exams, but if a psychopath like Orochimaru was there...

And maybe Jiri was a complete delinquent, but at least he was strong. The only reason he failed the earlier tests was because no one wanted HIM to be leading a do-or-die mission. Two years ago, he actually WON the final rounds, making it to the top, but he lost because he just relied on brute force. He didn't think at all.

Jiri sat back, combing his fingers back through his black hair. "Um, okay. Whatever you say, warden. Can I go home now?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, standing up, "Do what you want."

Jiri jumped up, "Cool." He turned around, his hand reaching for the knob, but he stopped. He spun back to Sasuke, "Uh, you're not going to call my mom, are you?"

Sasuke waved him off, as if to say, _No. Get out._

Jiri nodded, and stepped out the door. The second he left, however, Jin stepped in, Akira in his arms.

"Dad! Dad, Jin's home!" Akira wrestled out of Jin's arms and ran to Sasuke, who smiled and let the girl jump into his lap. He looked up at Jin.

"How was your mission?"

Jin nodded, "It was good. No one died, although we had a close call."

"The weather?"

"Fair. I saw the infamous Jiri Kotarou leave, what did he do this time?"

Akira had a small blush on her cheeks at the mention of the boy's name - but neither one of the two seemed to notice. Sasuke sighed, "Nothing new."

"Breaking and entering?"

"What else?"

Jin laughed - you could practically feel the venom in his voice. His sensei was so tired of that kid.

Akira tugged at Sasuke's sleeve, catching his attention, "Can I go say hi to Matsuda-san?" Matsuda was Sasuke's secretary. He gave candy to any kid who came within ten feet of his desk. Sasuke nodded and let her down, and she scampered off, in a huge hurry.

Sasuke gestured to the chair in front of him, "Did you want to talk?"

"Yeah, I was wondering... Why did you let Hikaru sign up for the Chuunin Exams?"

"So you've heard already? No, I did not let him. Actually, I had no part in it. I told him specifically to wait, but he never listens to me." Sasuke sat back down in his chair, shaking his head. He muttered something but Jin didn't catch it.

Jin stared in a pretense of disbelief, "Stubborn? _Your child? _No, I don't believe it, Sasuke-sensei."

Sasuke glared at him in a sickening silence. Somehow this man had absolutely mastered the "I will kill you if you push me too hard" look BEFORE he had kids. He turned away, "In any case, the reason he didn't tell me is because he knew I'd refuse."

"But why would you refuse?"

Sasuke sighed, standing up. He seemed hesitant to talk, finding a feigned interest in his bookcase. He closed his eyes, mulling it over. He turned back to Jin, "I told him when he entered the Academy that I would tell him about the Clan when he became a Chuunin."

Jin gaped, "You still haven't told him?!"

"What am I supposed to tell him? That I left the village, nearly killed my best friend and tried to destroy the village he loves more than anything? He'd..." Sasuke stopped himself.

Suddenly the green-haired Jounin understood. Hikaru loved Sasuke more than anything, and if he found out what his dad had done, he might grow to despise him.

Sasuke's student offered his sensei a smile, "It's okay, Sensei. I'm sure Hikaru won't take it that way. After all, the entire time he's been alive all you've done is take care of this village. He sees you as a hero, you know that."

Sasuke didn't look at Jin, his eyes staring out the window. It was times like these Jin couldn't read the man at all. His face was stone, emotionless and vague. It took years for Jin to even read the normal Sasuke, but when he became quiet and steady like this, it was impossible. Maybe Naruto could read him like this, but no one else.

"It's not easy as that, Jin. Thank you for stopping by, but you should get some rest." He moved to his desk and sat, taking a couple of files and placing them in front of him, not waiting for an answer from Jin. Jin stared at him, knowing the conversation was over, but still wanting to pester him on. He exhaled deeply and stood, rounding around the chair and heading to the door. Before he could leave, however, Sasuke called out to him.

"Don't forget to take Akira home."

"I won't. It was nice to see you, Sensei."

Sasuke tore his obsidian eyes from his work, offered a nod of the head. "You too."

The door clicked shut behind Jin, but he stopped short at Matsuda's desk. Matsuda was a skinny, trembling man, who got out of sorts the moment someone raised his voice at him. Once, Sasuke became angry with him, giving him a heart attack and he fainted. He was fair, with trimmed black hair and black eyes.

"Matsuda-san?"

Matsuda jumped up, "Uh-uh, yes! Yes? Oh, Jin. Hello, how may I help you?"

Jin glanced around, "Where's Akira?"

Matsuda was shaking, "Oh, she asked for two pieces of chocolate and then ran off. T-That way." He pointed down the hall, and Jin groaned. That girl was always about. He began down the hall.

"Thanks, Matsuda-san." He didn't wait for a reply and sped down the halls, as busy officers walked about, some sitting at desks, some suiting up, and some dragging in the problem-people. Jin wished Akira wouldn't wander these halls by herself - there were so many dangerous people here and he didn't want her to get hurt. For two reasons - one, she was like a little sister to him; and two, Sasuke would murder him.

Brutally.

He shuddered at the thought of the ONE time someone tried to hurt Hikaru.

"Akira!" He called, getting a tad worried. "Akira, where are you?" His eyes scanned the crowd, and he saw a man at a desk point outside while he was on the phone. Jin mouthed a "thanks" and headed out, the autumn breeze cooling his skin.

He checked around, then stopped thankfully as his eyes rested on the young girl in overalls. A vein popped in his forehead, though, when he saw that smitten look in her eyes, her arms folded behind her back. Standing coolly in front of her was Jiri, who had a chocolate candy wrapper in his hand. Jin glared and shook his head - why. Did. She. Like. Bad. Boys? She was way too young for him!

"Akira!" He called, and the two turned their heads. "Come on! It's time to go!" Akira seemed dismayed, but in Jiri's eyes he could see he didn't care one way or the other. Akira sighed and waved at Jiri, skipping back over to Jin. Jin rested a hand on her back, sending a dirty look to Jiri. Jiri shrugged and stalked off.

Jin rolled his eyes, but the second they began to walk off, he realized he hadn't even asked his sensei what he had wanted to in the first place.

_Damn. _

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
KIRIGAKURE EMBASSY**

"This village is so beautiful!" Kiri cried, sliding the window wide open. She smiled back at the three behind her, "Hey, we should go check out the village and see the monument!"

Aoi was sitting on one of the beds he claimed his, polishing one of the Fang blades he kept in his possession. Jinta was leaning against the far wall, seeming to be in his own mind. The two turned to look up at her sudden exclamation. Aoi's soft eyes nodded, "Whenever you want, Kiri-sama."

Jinta raised an eyebrow at Aoi, but shrugged. "Yeah, okay."

Kiri pouted at the two. They were so weird around each other. She jumped off of the seat by the window, smiling and folding her arms behind her back. "Well, do you guys want to go now? We could go see the infamous Ichiraku Ramen that everyone always talks about, or we could go... uh, I dunno. I guess seeing the Hokage Monument is the biggest thing we have to go see up close!"

Aoi nodded, pulling himself and sheathing his blades over his shoulder. He gave her a little nod. Jinta pushed himself up off the wall, and said smoothly, "Eh. I'd rather go see the graveyard. I heard it's pretty there."

Kiri blinked, "The... graveyard...? You came to a new village and you want to see a graveyard?"

A scoff came from behind her, "Just to expect from a bloody Rebel." She turned and glared at Aoi, who had his eyes averted and his face was sour. Jinta only crossed his arms.

"Take it any way you want. I just wanted to respect the Hokages who died. The Second Hokage was pretty cool."

Aoi shot his eyes up, "Oh, the one who brings dead back to life and is cold hearted? _That _one is your favorite?" Jinta scowled and started forward, but Kiri got in between the two older boys. They both stopped and looked down at her.

She gave them a weak smile, "Hey, come on. That stuff doesn't matter anymore. We're friends again, right? ...Please don't fight, you two..."

Aoi obediently turned away, "Yes, Kiri-sama."

Jinta smiled at Kiri, "Sorry. I just haven't got much sleep lately, with the trip and all. Why don't you two go out and see the village, and I'll sleep for a couple of hours? I think I'll get back to my normal self then."

The red-headed girl pouted, "...Okay, Jin-tan..." She smiled. "Then we'll have to go see the village with you later, then. Right?"

Jinta nodded, ruffling her hair, "Right. Well, I think I'll hit the hay then."

Aoi glared. He didn't want to leave Jinta here by himself. Who knew what the Rebels had planned for Konoha, an ally of the Union? All of the sudden he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach. Leaving Jinta here could cause trouble. But if he spoke anything on the matter, Kiri would become angry with him.

Kiri took Aoi's arm, "Well, where do you want to go?"

"Wherever you want." He started, but the second she glared he decided to say, "Um, well, we could eat at that ramen place, if you wanted."

Kiri blinked, surprised he actually picked something. Sure, he added the "if you wanted" there, but who was she to change Aoi? Aoi was always so selfless, and that was a good thing.

"Okay!" She cheered.

Aoi smiled sincerely.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
CITY STREETS**

_Where was it?_

Takeshi raced through the streets, his icy eyes surveying anything they could find. Ladies shrieked as he shoved past them, husbands or boyfriends shouting after him, but they died off when they realized Takehsi was in a hurry. He was dressed in his citizen clothes, although he was wearing his hitai-ate over his arm, and had his kunai pouch on his waistband. Today he was supposed to take it easy, to rest, but he couldn't.

Something wasn't right.

He had been sleeping at home, for the first time in a month. He always fell asleep after training hours, always at the base of the old oak tree. Kiba-sensei he trained too hard, but he knew it wasn't enough from the people who were coming to the village for the exams. In any case, he didn't want to take this day off, but he knew that if he worked himself too hard, then he wouldn't have energy for the exam.

But while he was at rest, something hit him. He didn't know exactly what it was, but it was a different, scary sensation. It chilled him to the bone, and it wasn't far off. What was it, though? He had to find it and stop it, he felt it would destroy everything. But he didn't know why or what. It was just... just a feeling.

Takeshi ducked as two men carried a mirror, sliding under its surface and immediately jumping back up. The two men fumbled and nearly dropped it, staring at Takeshi dumbly. He continued on, glancing around. Ugh, where was that stupid-

He felt himself slam into something - someone, actually - and he fell over it, the two rolling on the ground. He cried out, seething, but stopped.

The feeling was gone.

Takeshi got up, wondering where it could have gone. He glanced around, but realized he ran into something. He blinked, looking down, his eyes resting on a small boy.

He had silky black hair, that fell to his collarbone in the front, but didn't cover his neck in the back. Despite looking so young, he was wearing a hitai-ate over his forehead, worn so that it fell over his left eye. His one visible eye was a bright, yellow color, contrasting to his pale skin. He was layered in clothes - three shirts, a jacket, and a scarf - and he wore dark-colored pants, and a pair of blue ninja shoes. According to his headband, he was from Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass.

Takeshi blinked, "Oops." He stood up, holding his hand out. "Sorry, kid."

The kid shook, but nodded and took his hand. "N-no, it's my fault real-really." He was heaved up by Takeshi, but took one look at his piercings and shied back. "Er, sorry. I'm sorry."

"You're fine. Anyway, I've got to get going..." Takeshi glanced around, trying to figure where the hell that feeling had come from. It was still there, he knew it, but for some reason now it was weaker.

The kid gapsed and grabbed Takeshi's wrist, "Ah! Wait! Can you help me?"

He stopped, looking at how small this kid was. How could someone like him be a shinobi? He was so scrawny, so weak. He was probably here for the Chuunin Exams, and Takeshi felt bad for him. This guy was sure to be one of the first picked out.

The feeling was getting weaker. He had to find it before it died out completely. But instead he sighed, "Yeah, okay, what?" His voice was irritable.

"I don't know where my embassy is..." His voice trailed off, and he gestured to his headband. "Please, I don't know-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Takeshi seethed, the feeling now gone completely. _Damn! _He shouted in his head. _I got up for freaking nothing._

Takeshi grabbed the boy's wrist and started leading him east, where most of the embassy's were located. He figured they were all grouped in one place, but the only one he had actually visited was the Kumogakure Embassy, where Naruto had taken him to meet Killer Bee. It was some time back, but he still remembered where it was.

The boy struggled behind him but still attempted to make conversation with him. "U-uh, thank y-you. What's your name?"

Takeshi didn't look at him, "I don't give out my name to strangers." The boy whimpered and looked away, mumbling an apology. Takeshi rolled his eyes, glaring back at him. "What I mean is that you don't ask for people's names if you haven't given yours first."

It seemed to hit the boy, and he nodded, suddenly looking as if he gained confidence. "So-sorry! My name is Yasuo, I'm from the Kusagakure."

Takeshi nodded, "Nabari Takeshi. I'm from here."

"O-Oh. Well, thank you, Nabari Takeshi."

"Whatever."

They kept on forward, Takeshi still at a strong pace. Yasuo panted heavily as he tried to keep up, watching Takeshi's back. _This boy looks so strange_, Yasuo thought, _compared to the rest of the Konoha people. He's... _He couldn't think of the words. Everyone in Konoha seemed so peaceful, but he was so tense, as if something would jump out at him. _He kind of reminds me of myself..._

Something moved next to Takeshi, a human-like figure, but when Yasuo blinked and gasped, it disappeared. Takeshi glared back, "What?"

Yasuo blinked - did he just see an apparition? Or was it his imagination? He shook his head, "I-It's nothing. I just... thought I saw something. Um, I think I can find my way from here..."

He tried to pull out of Takeshi's grip, but he wouldn't let go. His strong, azure eyes wouldn't move from Yasuo. He seemed suspicious. "Saw something? Saw what?"

"U-Uh, I don't - I don't know. Please, please let me go." He hated being held onto. Hated it so much.

Takeshi opened his mouth to say something, but decided better of it and let him go. "Sorry," he apologized shortly, turning away. "In any case, I think if you walk two more blocks you'll get there. I'll see you in the Exams?"

Yasuo blinked, then a look of fear crossed his face, "Wait, what? You'll be in the Chuunin Exams too?"

Takeshi nodded, still backing up, "Yeah. And I'm going to win. Look out." He turned then dashed off. He felt it again, the feeling had returned, but he wasn't sure from where. He had to find it before something bad happened.

Yasuo was left, his face stricken. It had just hit him that nice people would be in the Exams too. So many good people... A feeling wrenched in his gut, and the feeling washed over him again. He felt chained back, his own self gone. No, it was happening again...

He bit his lip.

_No. Not yet. I can hold it. But for only one day more..._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
UCHIHA HOUSEHOLD**

Hikaru returned home nearly nine hours after he had left, the sun just beginning to go down. He told his family he was going to be training today, but he actually just went to the training grounds and slept. Part of him was hoping Takeshi would show up, so he could remind him about the whole, "I'm not going to be your shadow anymore" thing, but then he realized it would be rather pointless. There was no reason to tell the boy again, because Takeshi was the type of person who didn't forget about anything.

But in any case, he actually went to the training grounds today to get some quiet time. He needed rest and a clear place to think, away from home. He loved Akira more than anything - she was his little sister, of course - but he couldn't play today. She would most like pester him until he did decide to spend time with her, which wouldn't take long because he gave into her so often.

Plus, his mother was a wreck. She had been stomping around the house for weeks, shouting about how the exams were dangerous and that he wasn't ready. She was afraid for him, it seemed, and he understood her fear, but he was going anyway. He was stubborn like that.

As for his father, he seemed moody and cast off. Well, he was usually like that, but more so lately than the norm. He seemed to be anxious about something - and Hikaru knew why. He heard something terrible happened to him in these exams - a man named Orochimaru had come after him and hurt him. He wasn't sure how, but apparently it was bad enough to make him worry so much, especially since that Sannin was dead.

The Uchiha sighed, sliding the rice-paper doors open. He braced himself for impact, because every time he walked through these doors he was trampled by someone. It was either Akira or his mother, one time Juugo (but only because Juugo thought he was an intruder...), Ume, and when he was little, his dad and Yoshi.

The name went bitter in his mouth. _Yoshi. _He missed Yoshi, missed the loud-mouth raven-haired boy that used to make him laugh and tell him funny stories about him and his sister. He was young when he died, but he still knew the boy's face, still knew his laugh. He didn't understand what had happened to him until later on, his childhood innocence making him blissfully unaware. But then he noticed that Yoshi wasn't coming around as often, and that Ume and Jin cried all of the time...

Hikaru shook away those thoughts as he kicked off his shoes. He had no time to think about that. He still had to prepare himself for tomorrow, and if he became stressed with those thoughts he wouldn't be on his A-game.

"I'm home," he called out, realizing no one had come to greet him. That was odd. Usually he had a barrage of people at the doorstep before he even got inside the house.

Usually by the time he called through the house, someone would come, but the house was empty. He felt a shred of fear, knowing that people had come to kill his clan before, that people had come to kill himself and his dad and his little sister. He hesitantly reached back for his kunai, but didn't pull it out in case it was just him being paranoid.

He surveyed the hall, his finger sliding against the handle of the kunai. The house was dark, the very end of the twilight peeking through the windows. He stopped short by the kitchen, seeing a shadow pass through the light of the entryway. His Sharingan activated, and he called faintly, "Hello? I'm home."

The shadow stopped, and began to grow as the figure came closer to the door. He slid the kunai softly through his pouch, and just as a hand grabbed the door frame, Hikaru jumped out with a battle cry.

"Hyaaaaa- AH!" His wrist was grabbed and when he tried to punch the intruder his other wrist was grabbed. Hikaru struggled in the dark, trying to kick forward, but then the attacker let him go, keeping him at a distance.

"Whoa, whoa! Hikaru, calm down it's me, dattebayo!"

Hikaru blinked at the sound of the voice; the figure moved and switched on the light, revealing bright blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Hikaru sighed in relief, "It's just you, uncle Naruto..." He stopped. "Um, uncle Naruto, what were you doing in the dark?"

Naruto blinked, "Huh? Oh, I just walked in since the door was unlocked. I couldn't find Sasuke-teme or anyone else, though. Where are they?" He was wearing casual clothes, a strange thing for Hikaru to witness. Naruto was almost always in his Hokage robes, but now he wore a bright yellow jacket over a black t-shirt, with baggy pants that matched his jacket. His black hitai-ate was threaded over his brow, just as the norm.

Hikaru de-activated his Sharingan, striding past Naruto. "They probably went out to eat without me since I was late."

"Ah," Naruto breathed, following him. "Well! You want to go get some ramen with me, dattebayo? I asked Hinata but she was busy with work tonight, and Ichiraku Ramen just isn't the same without company, you know? And I was GOING to ask Sasuke and Sakura-chan, but she said no, and I can't find Teme. And then I asked Shikamaru but he was so preoccupied with something else..."

Hikaru rolled his eyes as he searched through the fridge - tonight was his sensei's last night to be with Temari before the exams; and he said it himself, he wanted to be _alone _with her. He pulled back from the fridge when he realized his mom hadn't been shopping in a couple of days. He straightened, shutting the fridge. "Sure," he agreed. He hadn't been out with his uncle for a while, and ramen sounded okay. It was better than nothing.

Naruto grinned that grin of his, his teeth sparkling. "Cool, dattebayo! Let's go!"

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
ICHIRAKU RAMEN**

A hotspot of Konoha, Ichiraku Ramen, was always bustling with business. What had been a single bar had transformed into a small little restaurant, all tables full and the scent of miso in the air. Hikaru breathed it in, smiling at the scent. He came here often, mostly with Naruto, and in his entire life nothing about this place had changed. The staff was consistent, as the pay was good, and the owner was a kind old man who ran this place with a compassion.

Naruto waved, "Hey, old man! Got room for two more!"

Teuchi, a large man and owner of the Ramen shop, waved Naruto in. "There's always room at the counter for my best customer! Come on in!"

Naruto smiled, and people waved at him. He pat a couple guys on the back, saying hello to them, knowing them by name. It was crazy to think Naruto knew just about everyone in the village, citizen and shinobi alike.

Hikaru hopped up on a seat on the bar, Naruto taking a set next to him. "The regular, dattebayo," Naruto told him, and he nodded, turning to Hikaru.

"I'll just have some miso ramen with shrimp and menma."

"Menma? Ew, gross," Naruto seethed, shaking his head. Hikaru rolled his eyes and Teuchi turned away, beginning their order. Naruto grinned at Hikaru, "So, how's life?"

Hikaru shrugged, snapping his chopsticks apart. "It's been alright. I've been training constantly for tomorrow."

"Yeah, Makko's been all busy. He's been helping with setting the whole thing up, 'tebayo." He smiled, sensing Hikaru's uneasiness. "So are you going to win?"

"Of course."

Naruto snorted. _He sounds just as stubborn as Sasuke. _"Then I guess I should just call it off?"

Hikaru shook his head, "No. Because I still want to participate. Are there strong Genin this year?"

The Rokudaime Hokage thought about it for a moment. He seemed hesitant to answer, but then said, "...Mm, yeah. I don't know some of them, but the ones I do know about are pretty hardcore. So, yeah, it'll be tough." He sent him a small, encouraging smile. "But I'm sure if you just keep your Will you'll get there."

Hikaru's eyebrows knitted down together, "And what if I don't?"

Naruto pouted, groaning, "Ugh. You overthink things. Just shut up, don't give up and you'll do it!" He snapped his chopsticks apart, setting them down and ruffling Hikaru's hair. Said Uchiha nearly groaned - that was Naruto's answer for most of his problems, but some of his problems couldn't be solved with "Don't Give Up!" An example? His so-called "best friend".

But if he tried to argue with Naruto, he was bound to lose. So he started with, "So, how's Makko and Yagami?"

Makko and Yagami - Naruto's two students, basically his pride and joy. When he wasn't working, he was training them. He loved them so much. Makko was a boy with red hair and green eyes, and Yagami was a Hyuuga, with long brown hair and Byakugan eyes. She was Neji's daughter, Hikaru knew, who was an old friend of Naruto who died during the Fourth Shinobi War. Yagami was fourteen, Makko fifteen, and Naruto had hand-picked the two of them to be his students.

Naruto hummed, sounding annoyed, "Oh, Yagami-chan is into this guy, but he's not into her, and Makko's into her - you heard none of this from me, by the way - but she's not into him. And then this girl likes Makko, but he doesn't even know she exists because she's a Genin..." He sighed.

_Poor Makko_, Hikaru thought. He was close with the red-haired boy, but not so much to the Hyuuga, which was probably why he sympathized more with Makko. Curiously, he wondered, "Who's the girl? The one who likes Makko-sempai, I mean."

"Ehhhhh, she's an Inuzuka. She has a little blonde-haired dog, she's kinda mean..."

His head shot up, "W-Wait, you mean Hanako? Inuzuka Hanako, wears a bandanna hitai-ate, has no compassion for the human race - _that _Hanako?"

The Hokage thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I think, 'tebayo. She wears a grey jacket with-"

"-with fur on the hood! Yes, that's my teammate!"

The Hokage's blue eyes stared at him for a moment, his blue eyes skeptical. "...What, do you like her? You seem pretty angry..."

Hikaru shook his head, "No, it's just that I didn't think she-" He didn't know how to finish the sentence. Hanako just didn't seem to be the romantic type. _Oh, well, I guess you learn something new every- _"Wait. Did you say Makko was going to be in the exams?"

"Well, he's going to be a Proctor, but he'll be there."

Hikaru stopped - Hanako wasn't avoiding the exams because she didn't think they were ready, she was avoiding Makko! That entire time she was making such a big deal, and it was over a boy. Yeah, "honest" his butt. Hanako was a hypocrite.

Realizing Naruto was still staring at him and waiting for some reply, Hikaru chuckled it off. "Sorry, uncle Naruto. It's just that-"

"Alright!" Hikaru jumped when Teuchi suddenly strode up, two steaming bowls in his hands. "One regular for the regular, and one miso ramen with shrimp and menma for the tike!"

"Thanks, old man, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered, his chopsticks at the ready. Hikaru gave a soft smile as a gesture of thanks (but was urked by the word "tike"), and dipped his chopsticks into the broth. Naruto slurped expertly, the ramen noodles seemingly endless. Hikaru shuddered at the way Naruto ate. The man was a bottomless pit.

"Sho wha er oo shaying?" Naruto mumbled through his noodles. Hikaru bit into his shrimp, swallowing before he realized what Naruto meant: "So what were you saying?"

Hikaru shrugged, "Nothing. I'm - I'm just not sure if someone I'm close with should be proctoring the exams, is all." There was truth to it. Hikaru knew Makko rather well, and the last thing he wanted Takeshi to think was that he was cheating again. Well, not again. He didn't cheat the first time. But whatever! He didn't want the juvenile boy to think it.

Naruto slurped again. "Nah, Makko isn't really "Proctoring" the test. It's more that he's... er... _security_. And you won't need help, anyway, dattebayo! So what's to worry?" He smirked, picking his bowl up and letting the broth slide into his mouth. Hikaru glanced at his bowl, a total of two shrimp, a couple noodles, and half a menma gone. He made a double take at Naruto's bowl, emptied, then shook his head, unsure why he was so surprised.

The word "security" caught his attention. "But why would you guys need security? Do you always do that?"

"Huh?" Naruto wondered, but shook it off. "Oh, yeah, we always do it. You know, in case someone sneaks in the village who shouldn't be in the village. It's happened, you know, once or twice. Maybe three times." Naruto waved at Teuchi, "Oi, oi, can I have seconds?"

"Sure!" Teuchi exclaimed, returning to the noodle pot.

Hikaru finished off the rest of the toppings, "Were those other times so bad that you had to get more security?"

"Aaaaahhhh, you're asking a lot of questions, dattebayo." Naruto moaned. "I just don't want the village to get pummeled into a crater again. The Pein Invasion only has to happen once for someone to get the bright idea of extra security."

"Right." What stupid questions. Hikaru should have known that. It just felt weird that his Hokage and his father were both alive when such a horrible thing happened. Come to think of it, Sasuke never spoke about it. He wondered if something bad happened to him, or if he was even in the village at the time. Maybe he had been on a mission?

Naruto offered him a smile, "But no need to worry about that. Just eat up, dinner's on me!"

"And _not _on your tab, Naruto-san." Teuchi murmured, setting a second serving in front of Naruto. "A bill of seven thousand yen only has to happen once for someone to get the bright idea to stop giving people free-bees." He grinned at Naruto and set off.

Naruto pouted, "Maaaaan. I didn't think that'd happen. Well, in any case, eat up for tomorrow. You'll need it."

Hikaru smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Naruto ruffled his hair, "It's uncle Naruto to you, dattebayo!" His teeth shone, that sweet smile of his, the one that could make anyone's day that much better. Hikaru softly smiled, hoping to one day gain a smile like that. He wanted to make the world better, he wanted to follow in his Hokage's footsteps.

_I'll do it. And I'll prove myself. Just one day more._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
YAMANAKA BRANCH HOUSE**

Koushiro heaved a huge sigh, lying back on his bed. He had just gotten off a nine-hour shift of work, hard work, but at least his paycheck was worth it. Now he had enough so that his sister could survive the next month on her own. The relief seemed to take weights off of his shoulders.

Still in his work clothes, Koushiro closed his eyes. His bed was so comfortable... and he was so, so tired. He let his breath out, sinking into his blankets. He turned on his side, the darkness closing around him. His muscles were sore and tight, but he loosened them as he rolled his shoulders. He just needed to rest...

The door creaked open, and the blonde sat up, alert. A little girl with blonde hair poked her head in, her blue eyes shimmering. She smiled, "Hi, nii-san. Can I come in?"

His eyes were burning from the lack of sleep, but he smiled, "S-Sure, Mikan-chan!" He patted the bed next to him. "How was school?"

She attended the Academy, just as he did, of course. She was a Yamanaka, like him. She jumped into his bed, and hugged him softly, her arms wrapping around him. She buried her face into his chest. "It was okay. But that girl Akira beat me again."

Koushiro's face was surprised, "Huh? What? Someone hurt you?"

Mikan giggled softly, "No, no, nii-san. I mean, she got a better test grade than me again."

A pang of hurt hit his chest, and he ran his fingers through his soft hair. He knew his sister was looking to be the best in her class, but still... "Oh, Mikan, don't worry about that sort of stuff. Just do the best you can, okay?"

Mikan looked up at him, indignant, "But I want to be the best!"

"But if you don't respect your classmates, then you won't really be the best, right? It's not fair to blame Akira, right? All she did was take the same test you did." As he spoke, something clicked in her eyes. She looked down, ashamed. Koushiro kissed her forehead, "Besides, you wouldn't want that to get in the middle of your friendship, right?"

His little sister thought about it for a second, then smiled. "You're right, nii-san. Thank you." She hugged him tightly, and him back to her. They held each other like that for a moment, then she pulled back. "How come you're always so smart?"

Koushiro smiled painfully, "I-I'm not that smart, Mikan-chan. I just learn from my experience, is all." He ruffled her bangs. He felt like collapsing, but she wasn't moving. She shuffled closer.

"So, today, my friend and I were on the playground, and when he sat on the swing, it just fell beneath him!" She laughed, as if recalling the incident. Koushiro smiled and chuckled, subconsciously lying back. She began to go on about what happened after he fell, but Koushiro was already closing his eyes. He had to sleep for the exam tomorrow. Takeshi would be angry if he wasn't ready for it...

Mikan giggled as she told her big brother all about how her friend tried to cheat today. But she stopped short when she heard a faint, steady breathing. She turned, setting her eyes on her brother, who was passed out. His expression was calm, his hair dangling over his forehead.

The little girl smiled, hopping off the bed. She grabbed his blanket and draped it over him, planting a kiss on his cheek. She whispered, "Goodnight, nii-san."

He smiled in his sleep, and mumbled, "-oodnigh..."

She giggled, loving that smile of his. It always made her feel better. Whenever something went wrong, he always stayed happy. She loved that about him the most. She slid back and headed out of the room, suddenly feeling lonely. For the next couple of weeks he wouldn't be here - and she would have to live with one of their relatives, Yamanaka Ino. Ino was nice, but she wasn't her big brother...

Mikan sighed. _Oh, well. At least I have him for tonight. _An idea hit her, and she smiled, running back to her brother's room. She jumped into his bed and climbed under his covers, already dressed for bed. She cuddled into him, and he subconsciously to her.

_I love you, nii-san._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**A/N: **It's doooooooooooone. Chapter two! I guess not a lot happened as much as I wanted, but I got through what I wanted to get through. I introduced Yasuo (ten years old, by the way) and Akira and Mikan. Oh, and Jiri.

By the way, I apologize for all of the "J" names. Jiri, Jin, and Jinta. I guess that's a little confusing, but I suppose you'll just have to distinguish it. I didn't realize that until I read it over. Haha, I was about to name Koushiro's little sister Juri, but I CAUGHT IT. Booyahkasha.

ALSO! My Microsoft word is NOT working, so there may be grammatical errors in this one because I wrote it on FF. I am also sorry for that.

But next chapter, we will begin the Chuunin Exams. How far we'll get into it? Dunno. But it's going to start. :)

**~FFoaP**


	5. Chapter III: The Wager

**Naruto: Sekai ni hi o Tsuketa  
Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

**A/N: **CHAAAAAAAPTER Threeeeee. Okay, so I just thought I'd say I am HORRIBLE with timelines. I just realized I made Hironori fifteen in the prologues, and in chapter one he was nineteen. HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE NINETEEN. Just thought I'd say that. :/ I really need to make a for real timeline.

Also, thank you to Mayaku no Yuki for reviewing/favoriting/following! And thank you to author ShuffleRepeat for favoriting as well! And of course to all of my followers, Fotsvamp, Higekimaru, Lock on Lockon, and Thirian! I love you people. :)

In any case, let the Chuunin Exams commence!

**OoOoOoOoO**

**Chapter Three  
"**The Wager**"**

**OoOoOoOoO**

**?UNKNOWN?**

He formed his hands into seals, his fingers twirling, his palms flexing, as he created several hand signs. He smiled, weak on his bed, but feeling more powerful than ever. At his side, the assistant seethed at him, her eyes downcast, full of animosity and disgust. Her hands were at either side of herself, trying to stop herself from throwing herself at him. His eyes lingered up to her face, and he laughed. "I'm ready."

She turned from him, striding to the other side of the room, where several scrolls were unraveled and pinned to the wall. Fresh blood was painted on them in illegible symbols. She moved her hands to the Tiger seal, speaking, "Forbidden Art: Struggle of the Soul." A swirl of sapphire chakra flourished around the room. The emblems of blood began to crawl off of their pages, creeping to the floor. They met with the veins of chakra, and rode them like a boat would a river. The veins stretched and lingered around the room, leading to the man on the bed.

The blood talismans reached the man, slithering onto his skin and settling in. They burned into him, etching on his skin. Instead of wincing or gritting, though, he welcomed it. He laughed as the pain bit into him, and he threw his head back, his raven hair falling all around him. "My dream," he rasped. "My dream is alive again."

She scowled, still facing from him. She could hear the singes of his skin, and like him, found a desire of him in pain - only, for different reasons. Several moments later, the chakra began to fade, and the last of the symbols dug into his skin. They settled and hid beneath his skin, as if nothing had ever happened. She turned from him, and immediately filed for his medications. That must have stressed out his body far too much...

But before she could, he held up his hand. "No, I don't need it." No, he didn't need it anymore. Now his health would increase, and soon, he would no longer have to live in the shadows. He would rise again.

She watched him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
KUSAGAKURE EMBASSY**

Yasuo screamed.

His mind was trying to claw out of his skull, it seemed, and his arms burned. Black incantations flashed on his skin as if they were his veins, but they ignited his skin. They burned. He yelled for help, incoherent, as he thrashed on his bed, the covers flying off of his body. Everything felt foggy, he couldn't breathe or think. It was beginning now. He would have no control within the next few moments.

But he had to fight it, had to push away from him. He leapt up, but his knees buckled and he crashed to the floor. He whimpered in pain, and somewhere in the background a door flew open. His name was echoed in fear, but suddenly it wasn't his name. It didn't belong to him. No, no. He was something greater than Yasuo. He was something better than a Genin.

Yes, he was a Sannin. And he would achieve immortality.

His eyes glowed like Orochimaru's, and licked his lips.

_I'm coming for you, Sasuke-kun._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
KARAKURI APARTMENT COMPLEX, NABARI RESIDENCE**

Takeshi sat up out of his bed in a cold sweat. He gasped, panicked, "No." He felt the fear, felt as if his mind were slipping away - but it wasn't him. He wasn't in any danger (well, at the moment). He forced a couple of breaths, clutching his sheets. He continued this until he became calm and aware, realizing that whatever that feeling had been, it was gone now.

_"Goooood morning~. Are you ready for your big test?" _

Takeshi scowled, "Yes, I am. But you're not coming."

The voice scoffed. _"Takeshi, I'll always be at your side. You aren't rid of me just yet."_

"I will be, one day," Takeshi murmured, but kicked the blankets off of him and stomped away. He began towards the door when he heard a tapping noise against glass. He turned, his eye catching an orange jacket. Naruto grinned at him, holding up a white box tied with a blue ribbon.

Takeshi slid the window open, "...What are you doing here so early?"

Naruto hopped in, "I wanted to give you a present!" He handed the box forward, letting it fall in Takeshi's hands. Said boy's icy eyes stared at the box, then at Naruto, then at the box again. "Well, are you going to stare at it all day or are you going to open it, 'tebayo?"

Takeshi pouted, pulling at the ribbon. He had to tell Naruto about that feeling he had yesterday, but what good would that do? It would just make him sound more insane than Naruto already thought he was. Besides, there was no way to prove that feeling he had would cause harm to anyone.

He slid the ribbon off and pulled the box open, blinking in surprise when his eyes fell on a necklace. The necklace was beautiful - it matched his eyes in color, and it almost looked like it were made of ice. A pearl laid on either side of the crystal, the string hard to the touch. It was string, it was something stronger, although it wasn't plastic or metal. Takeshi wasn't sure exactly what it was. He lifted the gem carefully from the box, staring up at it. "Uh," he started. "Is there a reason you're giving me... jewelry?"

"It's not just jewelry," Naruto spat. "It's called the Necklace of Death."

Takeshi snorted, "Oh, that's comforting."

Naruto glared, "Would you shut up, dattebayo? If you'd let me finish, I was going to tell you it was a gift to me from the Old Lady Tsunade. It's expensive so don't lose it, and it's sentimental so don't sell it, either."

Takeshi began to loop the necklace around his neck. Just what he needed, another piece of jewelry. "So, why are you giving it to me if it's that valuable to you?"

Naruto shrugged, "You've been having problems with _him, _and this has special sealing properties. Before I became friends with Kurama, this is what I used to keep him at bay. But you have to wear it, otherwise it won't work, dattebayo!" Takeshi nodded, and the moment he latched the necklace on his neck, the presence behind him faded considerably.

"Thanks, Naruto." He said absent-mindedly, checking over to the clock. It was going to be another two hours before the exam began. He had enough time to get ready.

Naruto ruffled Takeshi's bedhead, "No problem, 'tebayo! I just wanted to make sure you'd be okay during the exams. BUT! Now that that's solved, I actually have a meeting... five minutes ago. So, yeah! I have to get going. But do your best in the exams, alright?"

The young boy nodded, kind of thankful that someone stopped by to wish him good luck. Besides, this was probably the best gift anyone could give him. For as long as he had this necklace, he would be safe.

Just as Naruto turned to the window, _he _rasped weakly, _"You - won't get rid of me- forever, Takeshi... Your grief will take over you eventually... you'll, need me..." _

Takeshi stopped, "Hokage?"

Naruto stopped, one foot out the window, "What's up, dattebayo?"

"If... it gets bad, you'll stop it before it I do something, right?"

There was a long pause. Naruto's eyes were swimming with confusion, his face long. He looked up his Takeshi, his blue eyes fierce, "I won't let it get bad, Takeshi, so there's no need." Suddenly, his expression changed considerably, and gave him a warm smile, "Good luck, dattebayo!" He jumped out the window, and in an orange flash, he was gone.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
UCHIHA HOUSEHOLD**

"I am going to kill you twoooooooooooo!"

Hikaru cringed as he tied his hitai-ate over his forehead in the bathroom, something in the house crashing. Akira's voice was carried out through the corridors, laughter following behind. He sighed - knowing why the little girl was so upset. He pushed the bathroom open and stuck his head out, seeing two flashes to blue speed past him.

"Aito, Kaito!" He called, the two boys not stopping. "What did you two do this time?"

Akira came to a halt in front of Hikaru, "Nii-san! They stole my brush! And my Usagi!"

Hikaru almost groaned - Akira favored that little bunny doll more than anything, and she hated going to school with her hair not brushed. Her little brothers really knew how to push her buttons. They may have only been five years old, but they were masters of mischief.

The oldest Uchiha child sighed - he only had thirty minutes before he was meeting up with his team. He was mostly ready, but he wanted to say goodbye to everyone and that would take a while. He finished threading his hitai-ate, "Okay, okay. I'll go get-"

"Gyaaaa! Ruuun!" Aito and Kaito chorused this, running back down the hall, but it was futile. Sauske picked them both up by the scruff of their collars, the two dangling. "Ow, ow, stop it dad!"

"Drop them," Sasuke glared, and the two did as told. Akira grinned, rushing forward and grabbing her things. "Yay! Thanks, dad!" She cheered, running back down the hall. Sasuke glared at his two youngest.

Aito -or who Hikaru assumed was Aito -smiled in a pretense of sadness, "Father, we're everso sorry for what we did."

"Oh, yes, Father! We didn't mean to take them!"

Sasuke dropped both of them; they "oof"ed as they hit the floor. "I better not find you two in my office one day." He seethed this, and the two giggled on the floor, climbing up to their feet. They were gone in a flash of blue, their matching shirts flying out from behind them.

Hikaru sighed, shaking his head. Those two would never change. He smiled at Sasuke, "So, dad, I guess you'll have to handle the terrible twosome without me for a while?"

Sasuke seemed to avert his eyes, but at the same time, Hikaru couldn't be sure. Sasuke avoided eye contact when he could in a friendly conversation, although he was never sure why. Sasuke's voice was passive, "I suppose."

A pang of guilt Hikaru, but he wasn't sure why. He smiled again, "Don't worry dad, I'll be fine. I'll come back a Chuunin, no problem."

Sasuke closed his eyes. Oh, no. That was a sign that he didn't agree with it at all. "Very well. But no matter what advice I'll give you, you'll refuse to listen. So," he approached Hikaru placing a hand on his head and ruffling his raven locks. "Be as reckless as you can, don't be on your guard, and make sure to go dangerously near every enemy you see."

Hikaru laughed, and he stepped forward quickly, pulling his dad into one of their rare hugs. When he was little, it happened often, but as he grew older it didn't occur as much. Hikaru dug his face into his dad's chest, and suddenly his strong arms wrapped around him. He mumbled into his dad, "I love you, dad. I promise I'll be safe."

Sasuke's arms tightened, but he didn't say a word. He pulled apart from Hikaru, and turned away, heading to - Hikaru assumed - his office. He stopped just before he reached the end of the hall. "I'll keep you to that, Hikaru."

Hikaru watched him turn the hallway, his father's back suddenly gone. He glanced down sourly, but smiled after a moment; he fixed his hitai-ate and spun on his heel, heading to wherever his siblings went. He'd have to say goodbye to them, just in case.

But honestly, what could possibly happen that could kill him?

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
AMEGAKURE EMBASSY**

Yuki counted them again - nine kunai, five shuriken, fifteen exploding tags, two smoke bombs, a camouflage blanket that he had wrapped around his torso and pinned under his shirt, his trusty tanto knife, his ninja wires, and FINALLY, his first aid kit. He had everything, but could help feel nervous that he had something missing.

"Yuki-san, are you coming?"

The blonde boy turned, his teammate standing in the doorway. Kazuna had black hair and matching eyes. His hitai-ate was tied over his bangs, but somehow his messy hair managed to show itself. He wore a white scarf and arm warmers, both that looked like black paint had been splattered on them. He leaned against Yuki's doorframe, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"I will," Yuki offered, looking back to his supplies. He couldn't risk not being prepared. He had to be aware of everything he had and use it to his advantage in any way he could.

"I'm sure you're fine, Yuki-san. Let's just go; the exams will begin without us."

Yuki glanced to the clock. They had just a little over an hour, and it would only take them twenty minutes to get there. Still, it was probably a good thing to get there early. He nodded, "Okay. Let me just pack this up."

Kazuna groaned, but stepped back out of the room. He'd known Yuki for a good portion of his life - never his friend, but he knew a lot about him. He was a perfectionist, someone who never went into something unless he was fully prepared. Yuki was a prodigy, mastering his third elemental chakra just last year. He should have taken these exams a long time ago, but never really gave a reason for waiting.

The pale boy shook his head, _Yuki-san probably thought something like, "I'm not prepared for it yet."_

As Kazuna stepped into the common room of the building, he heard a soft, "Kazuna-kun?"

Turning to look up at his orchard-haired teammate, Mayumi, Kazuna smiled, "Yo. He's coming." Mayumi was seated in a table with three others - one, a beautiful, sexy girl for her age. Her hitai-ate was tied over her forehead, her blue bangs falling gently over her face. Using a hair tie, she pulled her royal hair up into a ponytail, that ran down her hourglass figure. She looked up at him with those cold, violet eyes of hers, then looked away.

As if she weren't interested. Yue was always like that around everyone who _wasn't _Yuki.

The other two boys at the table were look-alikes, twins, but with a couple of differences. Toshiro and Toshito had bright blonde hair, Toshiro's bangs falling to the left and Toshito's to the right. They wore red and white; Toshiro a white shirt and red pants, and Toshito the vice-versa. Toshiro wore his black headband on his right forearm, and Toshito on his left thigh. Both smiled stupidly up at Kazuna, giving him a wave.

Even though they wore the exact opposite, they were not at all different in character. They were both rather reckless and stupid, following Yue wherever she went and kissing the ground behind her. Kazuna, honestly, had never spoken to one without the other, and had never spoken to them when it wasn't criticizing them for their behavior around Yue. He had a crush on her too, but you didn't see him vying for her attention or trying to kill Yuki.

Yue raised an eyebrow, "Why did you bother Yuki-kun? He'll come down when he's ready." Always defending him.

"Yeah!" Toshiro and Toshito said in harmony. Always defending her.

Kazuna shrugged, "Beeeecause I didn't want to be late for the life-changing exams? Why do you think?"

As ever, Mayumi remained quiet in the background, not wanting to but in or show her opinion. Kazuna almost - almost - cried out in hallelujah. He needed someone like her in his life, someone who wasn't as crazy as the rest of them.

Yue's eyes narrowed, becoming daggers. Geez. But then, a moment later, they lit up, surprising Kazuna. They never did that unless-

"Alright, let's go."

...Well, _that _made sense.

Yuki came down the steps coolly, as if he couldn't do it any other way. He was the kind of guy who walked into a room, and everyone would notice. He had eyes that transfixed on everything, and yet took notice to no one.

Mayumi stepped up, followed by the rest. Yue made an effort to get close to him, and cheered happily, "So, Yuki-chan, is there anyone in particular that you want to fight?"

"Hm," Yuki hummed nonchalantly. "Not really. But I'm sure someone interesting will show up."

Kazuna jumped up, "Yeah. After all, I heard there's going to be an Uchiha there."

Yuki's eyes were suddenly on him, fierce. He had the boy's attention now. "Really?"

He didn't want to lose Yuki's eyes. He couldn't help it. When you had the attention of a prodigy, it became a need to keep it like that. He had to think of something... "Yeah, Uchiha Hikaru. He's the ex-Rogue's son."

Suddenly, Yuki averted his eyes, and Kazuna felt like he had just said something he shouldn't have. Yuki had a dislike for rogues of any such. He believed them to be false and inadequate. Well, this was coming from Yuki, who he devoted his entire life to Amegakure.

Mayumi smiled, "But you know, Yuki-kun, the famous Uzumaki Naruto will probably be there. He's your hero, right?"

Yue gave a shocked look - she knew almost everything about Yuki, but somehow didn't know that. Yuki gave Mayumi a soft smile with a nod, and said, "He is. And I want to meet him." He turned away, leaving just about every one of his teammates flabbergasted.

Yuki ran a hand back through his hair, eyes narrowing. _I have to meet him. The man that Konan put her dreams into._

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
SEISHIN BELL TOWER**

Fourteen years ago, one of the bloodiest battles of all time had taken lives from every village, over 100,000 bodies enemies and allies alike. It was shaken the very roots people had groan on, and created a powerful Five Village Alliance. However, the losses of the war were great and many suffered. To help compensate for the families, shrines were built all around the shinobi world, neutral places where anyone could go for comfort, where anyone could go no matter the village they were born in and respect the beloved who had passed.

These shrines were to be called the Seishin Bell Towers. Many claimed that under the several bells, you could hear the voices of the deceased, calling out hope to the living. Many came here for comfort, others for political reasons, but this time, Genin all over the shinobi world came to settle here, where they would take their Chuunin Exams.

The Seishin Tower of Konohagakure was a beautiful marvel. Located in the middle of one of the many forests, it was carved out of marble stone. Magnificent statues of animals towered at the entrance. Tigers, cranes, dog-like beasts, and horses all stood gracefully, some with fierce expressions and the others gentle. Genin from all over came in crowds and clusters, all of them walking up the steps at led to the Tower. Chuunin stood by and watched over, making sure people wouldn't break out into fights. Among them, Jiri watched with his cool red eyes, and picked out Hikaru, his blue and yellow jacket popping out. He was walking alongside an Inuzuka and a boy with curly, darn brown hair, who was giggling and walking with a skip in his step.

Jiri rolled his eyes, wondering why in the heck the Warden of all people would ask him to defend a little kid like that. Who cared about some stupid Uchiha, anyway?

Suddenly, he felt as if he wasn't the only one watching Hikaru. he glanced up and took notice of a boy with a tattoo of a bird on his forehead, sunglasses hanging on his nose. His dark green eyes was surveying Hikaru - the way he walked, the people he talked to. Something about him didn't feel right, Jiri thought. He felt out of place, as if he were above the people around him.

Wait. Why did he care?

Jiri scoffed and looked away, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back against one of the many columns of the Seishin Tower. _This is going to be a breeze._

Down below, Takeshi had his eyes on Kageki, who sensed Takeshi's stare and looked away. Raising an eyebrow, Takeshi glanced at Hikaru. He honestly didn't expect Hikaru to be here - for some reason, he was on the mindset that Hikaru took the exam last year. Oh, no, this was going to be bad-

"Hikaruuuu-kuuuuuun!" The shrill cry next to him physically hurt, ringing in his ear. Kagura ran forward before he could stop her, to Hikaru, and Koushiro was at her heels. Takeshi groaned, not sure where to go without them - Kiba had told them, _"No matter what, stick together." - _and trudged behind them. That was the last place he wanted to go.

Hikaru grinned back at both of them, his obsidian eyes sparkling. "Hey, guys!"

Kagura wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "It's great to see you, Hikaru-kun! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"It's nice to see you too, Kagura." He politely pushed her off, and she smiled at him, folding her hands behind her back. She caught sight of Yasashi and Hanako. "Oh? Who are these two?" Takeshi rolled his eyes. She asked for both of their names, but she was eyeing Hanako suspiciously.

Hikaru, though, stepped back and said, "Oh, these are my teammates. This is Sarutobi Yasashi and Inuzuka Hanako. Guys, these guys are-"

"Ahem." Hanako closed her eyes, holding up Kiiromaru, who barked happily.

"Ah, right. This is Kiiromaru, Hanako's ninken." He scratched behind the dog's ears, then continued. "Guys, these are my friends from back at the Academy. Yamanaka Koushiro and Hagane Kagura." Koushiro and Kagura beamed.

Yasashi blinked. "Wait, then who's this person?" He pointed at Takeshi, who scowled. "Correction. Who's this scary person who wants to bite my finger?"

It was the first time Hikaru and Takeshi had met eyes for almost a year. Hikaru and Takeshi looked at one another, but instead of the expected bitterness, there was confusion. What were they do to, to say? What was going to happen now that they were faced with each other again? They didn't say anything, their eyes locked with each other, surveying their outfits, their headbands, how much they had grown. They were both the same height, still, even though a year had passed.

Finally, when he realized Hikaru wouldn't introduce him, Takeshi did it himself. "Nabari Takeshi. Wonder Boy and I here never got along."

A vein popped in Hikaru's forehead, "Stop calling me Wonder Boy!"

"Not happening," Takeshi smiled, along with Yasashi, who couldn't get over how accurate the nickname was.

Hanako raised an eyebrow. "So, this is the guy you always fought with?" She held Kiiromaru over her head and set him down there, his usual perch. If he wasn't there, he was being cradled in her arms, and if not there, then he was happily patting by her side. They were always together, like all Inuzukas' and their dogs.

Takeshi smiled in a pretense of compassion. "Aw, you talked about me?"

"Only when I was talking bad about you," Hikaru spat. Honestly, he didn't talk about Takeshi unless someone asked, and Shikamaru had asked about him before, hearing about it from Temari.

Takeshi shrugged, "Hate and love are both forms of affection. If you hate me, you still care about me."

Hikaru began to take a step forward, but Koushiro got in the middle before anything happened. "Guys, guys, come on. Let's not fight." Hanako and Yasashi were looking back and forth between each other, and back at the two rivals.

"He's right," Hikaru started, but he kept his gaze on Takeshi. "There will be plently of time to fight in the upcoming exams."

"Agreed," Takeshi assented. He absent-mindedly grabbed the Necklace of Death, and smirked. He let go of the necklace, crossing his arms proudly. "How about a wager, then, Wonder Boy?"

For once ignoring the nickname, Hikaru nodded. "Your on. What are the rules?"

Takeshi flicked his black lip piercing with his tongue, a sign that he was mulling it over. He glanced up, then smiled again, pointing a single finger at the Seishin Tower. "Whoever gets further in the exam or - that is if you've kept up with me - whoever becomes a Chuunin wins."

"Fair. And the loser?"

"Your call."

Hikaru thought about it. Koushiro gripped onto Kagura's sleeve, staring at Hikaru wide-eyed. Having Hikaru pick the consequence?No. Not a good idea. Yasashi had the same mindset, holding onto Kagura as well. She just glared, not bothering. Hikaru opened his eyes. "Fine. If I win..." Both boys gasped, holding on closer to Kagura. Hanako just watched with her cool eyes, only breaking her passive expression when Kiiromaru barked happily.

"If I win, you have to answer a question. You have to, it has to be honest, and I want details and explanations. Sound fair?"

Kagura shoved the two boys off. Hanako raised an eyebrow. Takeshi did the same, a smile on his face. He snorted, turning it into a laughter. "Hah! That's all you want? Very well. And if I win?"

"_Your call_." Hikaru mimicked Takeshi's voice.

The pierced boy stepped back, looking up. He bit his lip then flicked at his piercing. "Hm," he hummed, and both Yasashi and Koushiro clung onto Kagura again. "Well, let's see. If I win..." A smirk spread on his lips. "Then you have to turn in your hitai-ate."

Everyone who heard that blinked - including Jiri, the Chuunin above, and Kageki.

Hikaru took a step back, defensively throwing a hand over his headband. "W-What?"

"Meaning, that you turn it in, stop being a shinobi. You can't fight, go on missions, or do anything a normal citizen wouldn't. _Sound fair?" _He mocked Hikaru's tone from before.

Kagura jumped forward, shoving the boys off her shoulder's again. (...Okay. She was used to Koushiro doing that, but why was Yasashi?) She jumped in front of Takeshi. "Hey, hold on, Takeshi! That's too much to ask for! Hikaru actually has a goal as a shinobi, unlike you-"

Hikaru pushed her aside roughly, "No, Kagura, that sounds completely fair." He narrowed his Sharingan eyes at Takeshi. "But if you think I'll lose, Takeshi, you're _dead wrong._" He held out a hand.

Takeshi's eyes flashed brighter, they became clear and see-through like a freshwater stream. They shimmered, but somehow ignited like fire. Blue fire burned in his irises, and he took Hikaru's hand, absent-mindedly. They stared into each other's eyes, but they yanked away a second later.

"Deal," they spat, and Takeshi shoved past him.

"Come on, you two," Takeshi called back.

Koushiro looked back and forth, stammering words that didn't make sense, then ran after him. "R-Right! Come on, Kagura-san!"

Kagura huffed angrily, "Takeshi, when I get my hands on you-!" She ran, but as an after thought she waved back, "Good luck, Hikaru-kun! Don't worry!"

As soon as they wafted through the crowd, Hikaru closed his eyes, and they went back to black. Hanako turned to him, "Why did you do that?" Her voice wasn't demanding; it was soft, almost like a disappointed mother.

Hikaru shoved his hands into his pockets, "I couldn't say no. I need to know something."

"Know what?" Yasashi wondered.

Hikaru huffed. Why did he even care about that - Takeshi abandoned him years ago. He didn't need a reason, he just needed to move forward. He said they weren't friends any more, and he made that clear.

He stepped forward in the same direction, heading into the Seishin Tower, "I don't know."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
SEISHIN BELL TOWER, OFFERINGS ROOM**

The Genin were all led to a giant room. Above them were bells, made of silver and iron. They stood still for the moment, only ringing every hour on the hour. Hikaru remembered that, in the Academy, they were asked to clean the bells for service hours. He and Takeshi had cleaned these bells together, the one on the far left, when they had still been friends. At the time, Hikaru knew the bells symbolized unity and friendship. He thought they would be friends forever.

He almost had to gag to get that bitter taste out of his mouth.

"Wow," Yasashi whispered, but he wasn't staring at the two-ton bells. He was looking ahead, where the first Kage's of every Five Great Shinobi Country was carved of marble. Senju Harashima, a man with a scar over a glassy eye, an older-looking man with a long beard, a man with a stache and an afro, and finally a man with a high ponytail and a taught face stared with hard, emotionless faces over the crowd.

Hikaru had never seen these statues before. Usually, that part of the room was blocked off so the Academy students wouldn't mess around with them. But seeing them now, Hikaru couldn't find a reason to smother their brilliance. They were, in a word, breathtaking.

And right in front of these statues on a platform, the sensei's of every team stood in front of their Kages', hands folded behind their backs. Hikaru picked out Shikamaru almost right away, who was glaring at a really big dog who was slobbering on his shoe. A man standing next to the dog was chuckling softly. There were several other men and women standing with them, but Hikaru didn't recognize any of them. As for the other villages, Hikaru wouldn't know any of them.

But suddenly, he saw a familiar face next to the Kazekage's statue. He blinked as his eyes rested on Taichikawa Ume, one of his dad's students and a good friend of his. She was taking a clipboard from a man wearing purple face paint, smiling and giggling at him, and then scampering away. She skipped over to his sensei, and held the clipboard to him, chatting happily.

He blinked. "What is she doing here?"

Hanako turned to him, a hair tie in her mouth and her hair scooped into her hands. "Huh?" She said, sounding off because her teeth were clenched together. She usually put her hair into a thin ponytail when she fought or went on missions, claiming it better to be out of the way.

"Ume, my dad's student. You've met her before." He offered, pointing.

"Ooh! That's the girl with the laugh that cracks me up." Yasashi laughed to himself.

But then as quickly as she came, she left. She disappeared behind a corridor, her long chestnut hair flying out behind her. Hikaru blinked, just as a man with a long beard and sunken eyes stepped up. He was definitely old, his hair long and black. His voice was gruff, "Welcome to this autumn's Chuunin Exams, future of the Shinobi World. My name is Mifune, and I am the General Samurai from the Land of Iron. A neutral country, so I run the Chuunin Exams every year, twice a year."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. Why was a samurai conducting a shinobi exam?

...Oh, well. If the Kages and Daimyous chose him, it must have been for a good reason.

"Now, this year's exams will be conducted differently than normal. Usually we would take you all to the Land of Iron, but this year we will be having them here."

Several eyes narrowed in the crowd. It made more sense, come to think of it, to have the Alliance Exams in a neutral country, right? So why would they have the exams take place here?

"For security reasons only, I assure you. The Land of Iron has been having recent problems with the Rebels from Kirigakure, but it's not a problem we cannot solve. Just to be on the safe side, though, the leaders of the Five Great Countries have decided it best to ensure your safety. Now, pertaining to the exams."

In the crowd, Aoi cast a glare at Jinta. "And how come you failed to mention that?"

Jinta held his arms up in defense, whispering harshly, "Well, I didn't know! It's not like my dad was a big player in the war room, I only got so much information."

Kiri got in the middle, "Guys, please! We have to listen!" Both looked away angrily.

As if he hadn't heard them - which, he probably didn't - Mifune continued on. "There will be three tests - a test of wits, a test of survival and loyalties, and a test of strength. The third exam will have no more than 16 contestants, and since we are beginning with 300 of you, over three-fourths of you will be disqualified, maybe dead."

Next to Takeshi, Kagura and Koushiro gulped.

Hikaru narrowed his eyes.

The samurai continued. "But in that time, we encourage you to all try your best. If you wish to back out now, do so. I will wait for you all to go."

Koushiro began to stand, but without looking Takeshi and Kagura dragged him down. Around the room, people glanced around, unsure. One man stood, followed by his team, and after them, many others followed. People stood, quietly exiting the premises. Takeshi scoffed at them, "Wimps. If you're not going to take the exams, don't bother traveling so far just to quit." Kagura shrugged, wanting to agree but not wanting to side with him.

Ten minutes past, and the last of the people gave up, the doors closing behind them. Mifune's face did not change at all within that time, his face stone. The moment the doors closed, he began to speak again. "That was not your last chance to leave, but it will be for a while. Now," he drew his sword, setting it in front of him to lean on. The people in the front row took a cautious step back. "You will be led into the next room, where the first exam will take place. Your proctor," he stepped back, "will take over now."

He couldn't have been older than forty, Yuki reasoned, but his hair was as silver as the moon. His headband fell over his left eye, a mask covering his entire face except for his right eye. He wore a green flak jacket over a blue long-sleeved shirt, and dark blue pants. He held up a glove hand, and even though you couldn't see his face, you could still tell he was smiling.

"Alright, brats, follow me."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
SEISHIN BELL TOWER, DEBATE ROOM**

Usually, the debate room was used for political meetings. But it was the only room with a giant white board, and enough seats in the room for all of them. Each team was asked to take their own table, but otherwise there wasn't a seating chart. As Hikaru began to sit, a voice rang through the crowd.

"YO, YO, YOOOOOOOO!" The sound of a foot slamming down on a table echoed, and people turned. _Great, _Hikaru thought. _Another person trying to get attention. Just what I... whoa._

His eyes fell on this gorgeous - no, beyond beautiful, fantastic girl. Her hair was blood, a crimson wave tied into a high ponytail with a black fuzzy hair tie. Her eyes were spindrift, like the shine on a marble. He felt his cheeks heat up, staring at her in awe. She wore a black jumpsuit, two violet belts around her waist, holding her ninja gear. On her right thigh was her shuriken holster, and on the other was her headband. Where her jumpsuit stopped, bandages began, covering her legs and feet just until her toes.

Hanako's voice pulled him out of his gawking, "I'm sorry, pigs, I think you dropped your jaws. Do you want me to get them for you?"

Yasashi and Hikaru jumped, closing their mouths.

The beautiful girl began again, her jumpsuit revealing all of her curves. "Yo! Just wanted to say before the exams began, that I will destroy all of you pitiful losers and that there is nothing you guys can do about it. One day I'm going to be Kazekage, so there's not anything stopping me!" She crossed her arms, grinning. "And if anyone wants me by name to challenge my amazingness - I am the great, the powerful, SABAKU NO KAGO!"

The name immediately made Hikaru and Yasashi shudder. Sabaku no... as in, Sabaku no Temari, scariest teacher in the world? Sister of the Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure? Come to think of it, she did look a lot like him.

"Oh," she added, as an afterthought. She gestured with both of her arms like robot to a boy sitting in the chair next to her, his face in his palm. His hair, likes hers, was a crimson red, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with one of the arms ripped off. "And this is my bro, Giroro. He'll take on any of you to avenge me in the event I'm sick or poisoned."

Hikaru sweat-dropped, shaking his head. That must have been really, really embarrassing. Suddenly, Yasashi jumped up, and shouted, "HAH! Your brother is no match for MY TEAMMATE! BRING IT ON!"

There was a roar from some people, and Hikaru tried to hide himself. Oh, goodness, what was Yasashi doing. He heard Hanako mumble something bitterly.

Kago grinned, "HAH! A challenger! What's your teammate's name?" Takeshi's voice came from somewhere in the back of the room.

"Wonder Boy!"

"Very, well, Wonder Boy! BRING IT ON!" She smacked her collarbones as if to say, "come at me".

Hikaru jumped up to his feet, angered. "CALL ME WONDER BOY AGAIN AND I'LL KILL YOU! AND STAY OUT OF THIS TAKESHI!"

Suddenly, chalk-board erasers flew out into the crowd, smacking Hikaru, Yasashi, Kago, and Takeshi in the heads. The man with the silver hair sat quietly in the front, watching them. "Are you all done?"

Kago placed a hand on her hip, shouting, "In fact, I am not!" He lifted another eraser, and she sat down like an afraid dog. "But I am now!"

Hikaru sighed and sat down, followed by his teammate. Yasashi was giggling. Hikaru spat, "Why did you do that? I don't need any enemies."

Yasashi shrugged, "I wanted to contribute."

Groaning and turning to the man at the front, he realized then he'd seen him before - on his dad's nightstand, on his uncle Naruto's desk. He was his dad's sensei, Hatake Kakashi. Hikaru had met him a couple of times, mostly at big gatherings and birthdays, but he hadn't really _talked _to him. He never really cared to, honestly.

Kakashi folded his arms, leaning back against the chalk board in the front. "Okay. Now that you've all shut up, hi. I'm Hatake Kakashi. There are things I like and hate... but I don't feel like telling you those things now. I have no dreams for the future at the moment, and I have lots of hobbies." He nodded to himself. "Alright, that sounds like a good introduction. Now..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red book, his single black eye scanning a random page he turned to.

The crowd stared.

He continued to read.

"Um, hello?" A guy in the front wondered.

Kakashi glanced up, "Yes?"

Kirouko, sitting alongside Chie and a guy with a half-shaved head, spoke up, "Aren't you going to give us the exam rules, you old man?"

Kakashi smiled at him, "Well, you're a lovely little idiot. Anywho, sure. Why not?" Kirouko glared, his eyes fired up. Chie held him back. Kakashi stepped up and headed over to three cardboard boxes sitting up at the front. He opened them up, then stepped back. "In each box is a different color. One person from each team come up and get one of each color. Then I'll tell you the rest."

After a mass of exchanged glances, one person from each table stood. Hanako left Hikaru's table, walking alongside Yuki and Kisa. Koushiro went up, as well as Kago and another girl from Suna, who had long blonde hair that went down in ringlets. Toshito and Toshiro jumped up, not risking leaving one another's side. The boy from Kumo with the half-shaved head, Masayu, ran up, as well as Tohru, a Genin on Kageki's team. Aoi left Kiri and Jinta and came back with them; and finally, from Kusagakure, a girl with straight orange hair sat down with Yasuo.

Yasuo smiled, but something was off, she saw it right away. He snatched the items from her, smiling down at them. He cocked his head to the left, his voice strangely smooth. "So this is the game Kakashi's going to play?"

The girl, Ritsu, asked awkwardly, "Um, Yasuo-chan, what are you talking about?" The "-chan" suffix was intended between them. When they were little, they were friends for almost a month before she realized Yasuo was actually a boy. But it was too late, because she continued to use the honorific with him.

Yasuo - well, Orochimaru - smiled, "Why, of course, Ritsu-kun. I'm fine."

The other member of their team, Miyazaki, narrowed his eyes, a mask hiding the lower half of his face. Something was off about Yasuo ever since this morning, when they found him writhing on the floor. After, he had stood as if nothing had happened, insisting he was fine. But his personality just wasn't right... He was confident, not stuttering or apologizing for anything. That was so unlike their teammate, who was the kind of person who freaked out over everything, even the simple things. He was the kind of person to become sad that Ritsu had used her own energy to go get the items Kakashi had laid out. And just a moment ago, he stared her down, as if she were the one to go get it.

...It wasn't... right.

In any case, Yasuo placed the three items in front of them.

They were discs; glass discs that couldn't be bigger than a shuriken. They were translucent, see through; if you looked through them like lenses, they would turn the world a certain color. There were three colors, in fact. A yellow disc, a blue disc, and a red one.

Yasashi stared at them, puzzled. "Um. Do you get it?"

"They're-" Hikaru began, but was cut off by Kakashi.

"Alright," he started. "If you haven't noticed already, they're colorful pieces of glass. Can anyone tell me what these colors have in common?"

A boy from Suna sitting at Kago's table raised his hand before the question was completely asked, his hand waving. Mayumi from Amegakure jumped up, "Ooh, ooh! I know! They're the primary colors!"

"Right," Kakashi nodded at her, smiling. She sat down, proud of herself, while the boy next to Kago glared sourly. "Now, I'll begin. I only like one of these colors. It's your decision to decide which one is my favorite. You guess right, you go on. You guess wrong... well... you take the train to loser town, and you never take these exams again." His eye narrowed, searching for the crowd for anyone who was caught off. He then smiled. "Sound fair?"

The same blue-haired boy raised his hand, "But if there's a one-third of a chance we'll get it, can't we just spy on the other teams and then use the process of elimination?"

Kakashi blinked. "You must be fun at parties. Anywho, no. I have a room set up over there -" he gestured to a doorway where to Chuunin stood, hands folded behind their backs. "All team members will bring all colors, and then give me their answer. Anyone caught cheating by our proctors - who I have hidden where you'll never find them - will be promptly disqualified."

Some people groaned, others just swore and glanced around. Kageki found them almost immediately, hiding among the crowd, sitting at tables just like everyone else. They were glancing around, acting confused as the others.

"Way to go, Chiaki," Kago sneered, her chin resting on her palm, but she was smiling. The blue-haired boy glared.

Hikaru smiled, "Easy enough." _With my Sharingan, this will be cinch. I'll just have to make sure the proctor's can't see me._

"Oh!" Kakashi hit a fist against his opposite palm. "Right. I almost forgot. Only one person from each group may proceed to the next level. In each squad, people will have to sacrifice their own teammates for the sake of the mission. You may choose that among yourselves. Now, I'll be in my room. You'll have twenty minutes to decide." He turned on his heel, pulling out his book again. He waved his hand over an alarm clock on the desk.

He smacked the top button. "Your time begins now."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**A/N: **Whoop whoop! I finished this so quickly. I guess I've had nothing else to do since I've been sick, but oh well. IS DONE. And I actually started the exams. Go me. I was only expecting to get through the whole, "Goodbyeeeee sensei's! We're heading off!" That's how it started going with Hikaru's part in the beginning, but I stopped and said "I HAVE TO GET ON WITH THIS."

The entire time I was writing this, I was cringing. I change the point of view so quickly. One paragraph, it's Takeshi. The next, Koushiro. Then, Hikaru. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, I scream at myself. MAKE. UP. YOUR. MIND. But it doesn't work any other way, because I imagine this as a manga, and I can see the panels showing people in the background, and changing from Hikaru to Takeshi to Koushiro. But, yeah. I just wanted to let you know I acknowledge this flaw. I also make too many characters. *facedesk*

And in any case, the chapter three is finished. BIG PLOT DRAMA. Big laughs. (I really love Kago.) Big Kakashi love. (You have no idea how fun he is to write.)

Read it? Love it? Review it!

~FFoaP


	6. Chapter IV: Nakama

** Naruto: Sekai ni Hi o Tsuketa  
Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

**A/N: **I. FEEL. SO. SICK. Please, people who live in the sky, don't give me strep throat. But that's lucky for you guys, so now I can write. -_-' OKAY. Let's begin.

And thank you to my SISTA, who reviewed. :) I LURV YOU MORE THAN THE UNIVERSE. XD And to Mayaku no Yuki again, for the new review.

Also, for the confusing character situation, I've put all existing characters thus far on my profile. If you need help, that's where it is. I would recommend having two tabs up - one for this, one for the Character Help Chart.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**Chapter** **Four**  
"Nakama"

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
SEISHIN TOWER, DEBATE ROOM**

"_What?" _Hikaru hissed, the moment Kakashi slid out of the room. He remembered Naruto mentioning the guy was a sadist, but only one? That would mean he would have to leave Hanako and Yasashi behind. Which, usually, they only slowed him down, but that wasn't the point. He didn't want to go in without them. It wouldn't seem right.

Hanako lamely poked at the yellow disc. "If you ask me, I don't think he'd like this color." She was ignoring the fact only one of them could go on.

Yasashi scowled, nodding, "He doesn't seem like a sunny person to me, either."

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Is there a reason we're talking about the colors and not who's going ahead?" What was up with these two?

The curly-haired boy shrugged, sinking in his seat. Hanako avoided Hikaru's eyes, then seethed, "Well, you've actually a reason to go forward in the exams. You want to find out about your clan and your title as a shinobi is on the line here. Besides, neither one of us even wanted to come." She sat back, but instead of looking or sounding angry, she was relieved. It was probably because she wouldn't have to see Makko, but Hikaru didn't want to tell her that.

Hikaru looked between them sadly. They had decided this in their heads mutually without even talking to each other. He clenched his hands, closing his eyes, "If you guys didn't want to come so much, then why did you agree to it?"

Yasashi smiled sweetly, his bangs falling over his face, "Because you wanted to come, silly! It would be selfish of us to say no."

Hanako just looked away, her arms crossed. "What he said." Hikaru leaned forward, and saw her cheeks were red. He smiled.

"You guys are... great. But..." How could he do this without them? It wasn't fair.

"Don't sweat it, Hikaru! Let's just find this color out, and then give him our answer. We only have twenty minutes left." Yasashi glanced to the clock in the front of the classroom, which was big enough for everyone to see. One Chuunin was posted next to it, making sure no one was stretching the time.

Hikaru sighed. "Okay. But... I won't ever sacrifice you two."

The two smiled at him, and then Kiiromaru jumped up, pawing at the glass. The three laughed, and Hanako pulled him back. "Not now, Kiiro-kun. I know you're excited, but we can figure it out."

Yasashi and Hikaru smiled with a nod. They turned to the glass.

**OoO**

Aoi looked up, "Kiri goes on ahead."

Jinta glared, "And who decided that?"

"She needs to advance if she's ever going to lead the Union one day. I don't want to send her out alone, either, but it can't be helped."

"I think Kiri can take care of herself! She's a strong girl, if she's survived this long!" Jinta argued. "But you can't just say she goes on ahead because of something like that! It's not fair."

Kiri sat in the middle, groaning. Ever since they were placed on a team together, the two of them have done nothing but fight. They used to look so happy in their childhood pictures she had, so why were they so bitter now? She just wished they could get along.

"Come on, you two. We can draw straws, okay?" She reached into her pouch and pulled out some ninja wire and a kunai, cutting them all different lengths. She made one shorter than the other two, and held them all in her closed fist. She held her hand above the desk. "You two choose. Now."

They exchanged glances, then reached forward and each grabbed one. They both blinked, then measured strings.

Kiri crossed her arms, "See? Aoi wins. Now no more arguing, and let's look at these colors. There has to be something he gave away in that intro that tells us about the color."

Both blinked. Jinta blinked, "But he didn't tell us anything. He said he doesn't have a dream, and a lot of hobbies."

Aoi perked up, "The book he was reading was red."

Kiri grinned, "Then that has to be it!"

"Wait, hold on," Jinta spat. He pointed at a group who went into the room, one of them gripping the red one and waving it at his two teammates readily. They went in for a moment, and not a moment passed when Kakashi shoved them out.

"First team out. Obviously I don't like red." He turned on his heel and went back into the room.

Aoi set the red one down. "So _that's _not it."

**OoO**

Yasuo smiled, standing up. "Come along, you two."

Ritsu and Miyazaki traded worried glances, standing and heading to Kakashi's room. Everyone had eyes on them, and Yasuo held up the red one, heading into the room. The two Chuunin allowed them access.

Kakashi was sitting behind a small, metal desk. The room was dark, lit only by a candle on Kakashi's desk. Kakashi raised the only eyebrow they could see. "And you've decided?"

Yasuo set his choice down onto the table, grinning. Ritsu and Miyazaki's eyes widened, looking up at Kakashi worriedly. Kakashi stared at the glass, then glanced up, his expression serious but Yasuo knew that surprised glint in his eye. He, after all, had seen Kakashi grow up.

Kakashi sat back, "And that's your final answer?"

"Of course." Confidence was brimming in his voice.

Kakashi nodded, "Very well. You go on ahead."

**OoO**

Chie felt like smacking her face against her desk. Kirouko threw his arms up, "Okay. THAT makes no sense." They saw a boy from Kusagakure leave out the door, his teammates through a different one. Kakashi smiled at them all, announcing the first victors of the test.

_That only took them four minutes. But how? They most likely didn't use the red one... _

Their other teammate, Masayu, grinned, "Well, that's annoying."

Her little brother scowled at him, "Why do you sound happy about that?"

"Dunno."

Chie glanced back to the colors laid out in front of her. She would pick blue, but only because that matched the man's personality and wardrobe. That didn't give her enough reason to pick it.

"You're a genius, Chiaki!" They heard that girl from Sunagakure - Kago - shout, and she dragged the blue-haired boy to the front of the room, another guy with light brown hair and the Hourglass symbol for Suna on the back of his shirt. They dashed into the small room.

Kirouko shook his head, "That girl has a screw loose."

Masayu blinked, "I thought she was kinda cool."

"Says something, doesn't it?"

"Says that you're stupid!"

"WHY YOU-!"

"Kirouko. Shut up." Chie interrupted, watching as Kago and the other two boys ran out, looking victorious. Kakashi waved them off happily, Kago going through one door and the other two out another, just as the other ones had done.

Chie narrowed her eyes. She hadn't even looked for the color they presented. _Damn. Now what?_

**OoO**

Several more teams went up, but all came back negative. Takeshi saw half of them leave with red discs, but they had been wrong; and then two teams left with blue discs, and the other with a yellow disc. But like the red ones, they were wrong.

Kagura crossed her arms, "I. Don't. Get. It." She groaned, throwing her head back. "None of them can be his favorite color! This guy is just messing with us!"

"Obviously not," Takeshi said softly, eyeing the door to Kakashi's room. Only a single white curtain was hiding whatever was beyond it. "Since two people have already passed." How could Yasuo and Kago have passed? Obviously there was a trick to this, he just wasn't seeing it.

"Hey, look! I'm wearing glasses!" Koushiro smiled, holding up the yellow one to one eye, and the blue one to the other. He grinned, but then, as Takeshi and Kagura stared him down, he removed them. "Sorry," he quickly apologized, setting them down.

Kagura laughed, "It's okay, Koushiro. It's not like we're going to get any further anyway."

"Hold on." Takeshi stopped her. He pointed down at the discs. "Look."

**OoO**

Sabaku no Giroro stared at the glass colors in front of him. He was rather confused. His little twin sister, Kago, said that she would be there for him. But then she ran off without another word, not even bothering to help him with the exam! He had no idea why she ran off without him...

"So who's going ahead, Giroro?" Kairi, his female teammate, wondered, her thin violet eyes blinking at him. She ran a hand through her long curly blonde hair.

Giroro sighed, "I do not know. I wish to, but I do not want to leave you two behind."

"So don't." She smiled. "_You_ should let _me_ go on ahead." Kairi wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Giroro glared, "Ignorance is the curse of God, Kairi."

"Excuse me?"

"What I mean is: It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance."

"...What?"

Giroro glared. Why didn't anyone understand what he was saying? "I mean you are ignorant to think I'll just let you go on without me."

Kizu, their teammate, blinked his olive green eyes. "Well," he interrupted. "Primary colors. Fun. You know yellow and blue make green?" He nodded to himself.

Kairi shook her head. "Kizu. Shut up."

Kizu glared, but looked down, and picked up the yellow and blue ones. He slid the yellow over the blue then chuckled, pulling the colors apart and then doing it again. He smiled to himself, setting the blue one down and picking up the red one. "And orange!" He slid the colors over each other, making the new color.

Giroro rolled his eyes. "Goodness you're... KIZU!"

"GYAA! What." It wasn't a question, but a demanded word of fear.

"Kizu, you're brilliant!" Giroro stood and gave Kizu a kiss on the cheek, picking up all three discs. "Come on. I think I know what we're supposed to be doing."

Kairi and Kizu exchanged glances, but followed after him. Kizu mumbled, wiping his cheek, "Okay, Giroro, I trust you. Just never kiss me again."

**OoO**

Only seven teams had passed - the known ones being Kago's, Giroro's Takeshi's, Yuki's, and Yasuo's - thus far, and it had been seventeen of their twenty minutes. Hikaru was breathing heavily, his hands combing through his tangled hair. Over twenty teams had already failed, and Hikaru was terrified if he didn't answer in time, then they would be disqualified, too.

"Hikaru, calm down. We'll be fine."

His eyes raised at the sound of Hanako's voice. "You don't understand. Takeshi's won! If I don't come up with something..." He could never be a ninja. He could never reach his dreams... Damn! He cursed the day he said, "I'm going to keep my word!" He didn't want to just make a serious wager and then not go through with it. It wasn't right. And he definitely wasn't going to do that; he would never hear the end of it from Takeshi.

Yasashi smiled, "Hey, it's alright. I don't think Takeshi was... well, he was being serious, but come on. You can't just quit!"

Hanako sent Yasashi a warning glare, then turned back to Hikaru. "Look at me, Hikaru. It's just three little glass discs. How can you let three little pieces of glass shatter your dreams?"

The Uchiha slammed his head against his desk. "That's. The. Problem. Three little glass discs ARE going to kill my dreams, and they're going to tap dance on them, and break them into little tiny pieces. It's- ugh. We only have three minutes left, anyway."

"Two and a half." Yasashi corrected, earning glares from more than two people.

"Alright, let's try again. What do we know about Kakashi - background wise."

Yasashi hummed, thinking it over. "Eh, wasn't he that guy who was friends with that other guy who started the Fourth Shinobi War?"

Hikaru nodded. They knew that much. He also knew Kakashi was a pupil of the Fourth Hokage. He was his dad's and Naruto's sensei. He was a man who was always late to almost everything - Hikaru was surprised he was here today on time from how many stories Naruto exaggerated - and tended to be a sadist. He... Damn. Besides the facts, Hikaru really didn't know Kakashi personally.

The only personal thing he knew about Kakashi was that he watched his comrades die. That was really about it... But why would he tell them to sacrifice his comrades if he saw his own perish?

"One minute left." Hanako said softly. Three teams got up about the same time - a final stake. Hikaru guessed that they just didn't want to be cut out without trying. But not ten seconds later, they were all kicked out to the loser door.

Hikaru swore. "That's it. Let's just sit here and see what he says."

Yasashi sat back, defeated, "Okie-dokie, chief." Their female teammate only combed her finger's through Kiiromaru's hair, her face illegible. They sat like that, not looking at one another. Hikaru couldn't believe it. The primary colors had caught him off guard. He just couldn't take it...

The ringing of the alarm clock got the three of them to glance up. Hikaru swore, along with a couple other's. Out came Kakashi, a grin most likely plastered on that damned masked face of his. He waved at the remaining contestants. "Well," he spoke happily. "It seems all I have left of you are the ones who decided to keep thinking inside-the-box. Well." He slapped his hand over the alarm. "Lucky for you all, I'm going to give you one last chance. An all-or-nothing."

Hikaru heaved a sigh of relief. Thank goodness.

...Well, no relief yet. This was still Kakashi, after all.

The silver-haired man began to speak. "Okay. So. You're either the ones who didn't want to sacrifice your friends, or you're the people who didn't know how to answer my question." Both for Hikaru. "I'll give you all the next five minutes to give me your team's choice. First, I want you to tell me who you're going to sacrifice, then your color. Is that clear?"

There was a mass conformation within the room, and Kakashi began the clock again. "Five minutes."

Heads turned, and the room was soon full of voices, the noise echoing throughout the room. People were holding up colors, some jumped up right away. Hikaru wasn't really sure what to do, what to say now.

Yasashi turned to Hikaru and Hanako. "Let's wing it!"

Hanako and Hikaru blinked, "...Wing it?"

"Yeah! Let's just pick a color and do it!"

Hanako seemed to be confused, but she shrugged it off. "It's a good of choice as any. It's not like we have anything to go on."

But for some reason, Hikaru couldn't go with it. How could he leave his comrades? He had always been taught that he could always trust his comrades, that his team was his family, even if it wasn't by blood. They were people who carried him, who defended him, the people he slept next to on cold nights when the mission dragged on. They were his friends, people he laughed with, and went out to eat with. They were the ones he went to for help, or for comfort. He had been taught to defend them, not throw them away.

Hikaru balled his hands into fists. "No." He whispered, so only someone with trained ears like Hanako could hear him.

"No, what? Do you have another idea?" He barely heard her. He grabbed all three discs and stood abruptly. Hanako blinked.

"I really hope he has a plan," she murmured, following after him. Yasashi stood, but faltered, then tried to sit down, but thought better of it and followed them. Both of Hikaru's teammates hustled side by side, just at Hikaru's heels.

Kakashi smiled as Hikaru approached. "Oh. Hello. Do you have your choice?"

Hikaru stared Kakashi down for a moment, searching for a weakness in his posture, in his voice or in his face. Obviously there was no way to find one in his face unless you looked into his eye, but even there he couldn't find any emotion. This man was completely heartless, a shinobi who had given himself into the hatred.

Hikaru clenched his teeth. He had heard of shinobi who lost themselves in the hell of the shinobi world. Countless tales of men who died, countless tales of men who let their hearts die. But he would never become like them. He would be a light within the darkness of the shinobi world.

"No. I've decided I don't want to choose."

Kakashi blinked his one eye. "Well. Then, I suppose you forfeit."

Hikaru closed his eyes, Hanako and Yasashi stared him down. "Yes, I am forfeiting."

Yasashi slapped a hand over Hikaru's mouth, "Whoa, there! He's not being serious! Not. Being. Serious."

Hikaru forced himself away from his teammate, and Hanako pulled Yasashi back. The curly-haired boy pursed his lips, staring down at his feet. He seemed angry or upset. He didn't want Hikaru to loose his right as a shinobi.

Kakashi crossed his arms. "Goodbye, then. But I suppose you should learn that being a real shinobi has it's risks, and you can't just walk away from them without a couple of sacrificial pieces."

"No." Hikaru suddenly said, but he wasn't sure why. He didn't like the way Kakashi said that. He didn't want to be seen as a coward who just... "I didn't give up!" He shouted, and suddenly the room went quiet. Hanako and Yasashi blinked.

He glared up at Kakashi, "I don't care if my stakes of a shinobi are on the line, and I don't care about becoming a Chuunin or achieving my dreams if my friends aren't there with me! I won't ever give them up - because they're my family, they're my comrades! Sacrificing them would never be worth it! And if sacrificing them is what it takes to be a real shinobi, then I don't want to be a real shinobi!"

His voice echoed throughout the room. Teams of all sorts exchanged glances, and the first who stood was Chie. She crossed her arms, her fuchsia eyes sparkling. "I refuse this test as well."

One by one teams stood, raving. Some joined hands with their teammates and some merely began to stand and walk to the door. The voices raised, echoed, and for a moment Hikaru was afraid that he had started a riot.

Kakashi stared at the raving crowd, then made a move for his clock. He set it, then hit it, and the loud ringing noise silenced the room almost immediately. He set the clock down, "Cool your jets. Now, who in the hell in this room decided to side with this miscreant? Stand."

Some sat, but for the majority of the room, people were standing, indignant. Hikaru's eyes were red, glaring Kakashi down. He wouldn't give up.

Kakashi pushed himself off of the desk, and started forward. "To all of you who are standing - you are all considered stupid. You are all considered shameful, and if you carry out that philosophy in a real mission, you will die and your mission will fail. In this shinobi world, there is only the mission. A shinobi is a tool used to win wars - you are all no more than pawns. You have no need for emotions."

Hikaru made his hands into fists, "That's not-"

"Hearing that, which of you will change your minds? This is your last chance."

People glanced around the room, but only a couple of people sat down. Kakashi narrowed his eye, then smiled. "To all of you who decided to remain seated: you fail."

His eyes faded back to black. Hikaru blinked. _...Whaa...t._

All of the people standing had a relieved breath escape them. Chie's group, Kiri's, Yue's, Kisa's, and Kageki's were among them. The people sitting jumped up. A man in the front row growled, "Hey! Hold on! We followed the rules! We chose to go on with the mission! Isn't that the purpose of shinobi?"

The white-haired man was silent for a moment. Suddenly, his eye became deadly, and he uttered darkly. "Of course. Those in the ninja world who break rules and regulations are called trash..." He closed his eye, but reopened it, as if determined. "But... those who don't care about their friends are even worse than trash."

Hikaru had been hunched over as if he was ready to fight, but he straightened, confused. He didn't even think to look at Hanako or Yasashi - they were probably just as baffled as he was. Of course! This was the point of the test. You were supposed to think against the rules, but the entire time Hikaru was trying to follow them.

Kakashi folded his arms. "The point of this test was for you to realize you can make more colors by placing the discs on top of one another - in a metaphorical way, it was supposed to hint that you become stronger with your comrades there to support you. However, I didn't want you to get it right away, so I pitted all of you against yourselves by saying only one could pass. I suppose it worked rather well, until a certain someone decided to encourage you to stick next to your teammates."

Hanako snorted as Hikaru's face flushed red.

"Well, to those who couldn't figure out the test but passed, I suppose you can thank him." Kakashi shrugged. He took in a breath as if to continue, but someone in the front interrupted him.

"Wait! Hold on! If we were supposed to stick with our teammates, then why did one person from each team who passed go through a different door than their teammates?"

Hikaru blinked. Oh, right. All of the teams who had passed - the five of them - had one person (say Takeshi) go through one door, and then the other two teammates (Kagura and Koushiro) went through a different one. He supposed it was just to keep the act up?

Kageki answered it for Kakashi. "It was so we couldn't guess what he was trying to do. If they all left cheering through one door, someone would pick up the purpose of the exam."

Kakashi snapped, "Correctomundo. Any more questions?"

Chie raised her hand but didn't bother to wait for him to call on her. "Where do the ones who passed go?"

"Ah!" Kakashi pointed at the same doors the teams went through. "Both lead to the same place. There will be Chuunin in the halls to get you to your next proctor."

Hikaru let our a sigh of relief. He did it. He won. He could still make it!

Kakashi turned, "Now, then." He strode over to the desk, but on his way he ruffled Hikaru's hair, and smiled at him. "Somehow I expected you to do that. You're more of an Uzumaki than Uchiha, in the end." He started forward, slipping his book out of his pouch and began to read. Hikaru whirled around to say thanks, but when he turned, Kakashi was gone.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**KONOHAGAKURE, FIRE COUNTRY  
SEISHIN BELL TOWER, HANGING GARDEN**

They were led to the outside garden. The hallway was first made of concrete, but as they went on, it became thinner, so much thinner that it seemed it would fall down at any moment. Just as the wall ended, a fence made of nets began to stretch outwards and upwards, leading into the Hanging Garden.

Hikaru vaguely heard Yasashi say, "Man, they didn't care about spending too much on this play, did they?" Yasashi was right. The net surrounded the entire garden, the net stretched out so that insects and birds could still get in without difficulty. Beautiful vines with grapes and flowers intertwined around the nets, pots hanging from the ceiling with extravagant plants in them. Birds of all colors fluttered about, butterflies gently landing on the flowers that loitered around the room.

"Whoa," Hanako whispered, but she wasn't looking at the plants. In the center of the garden were stones, set around a large stone fountain. There were a couple of benches here and there, all made of wicker, and at the moment they were all taken by the five teams that had passed before.

But what caught Hikaru's attention was a girl and a boy sitting on the fountain, chatting happily to the competitors. Hikaru knew both of them like the back of his hand - it was Taichikawa Ume and Makko, his dad's student and Naruto's student. As ever, Ume had a bubble around her that wouldn't let any sad feelings in. He'd really only seen her sad once. And Makko, his red flashing hair and bright amber eyes were elusive but gentle. He was nodding at Ume, who was probably talking about something superfluous.

_I wonder why these two are- _his thoughts were cut off when a voice shouted at him.

"HEY! Wonder Boy, you made it!"

...It wasn't Takeshi, the voice was too feminine.

Hikaru glared at Kago, who was waving at him. "My name isn't Wonder Boy! It's Hikaru!"

Kago crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, huffing, "Well, then you shouldn't've told me that, then." She shrugged. Hikaru narrowed his eyes, a twinge of anger in his brow. Whatever. He didn't have time for her. He turned from her, leaning against one of the pillars that surrounded the fountain.

The rest of the Genin began to file in the room, all of them finding a place to stand around the fountain. They seemed to notice that Ume and Makko were the proctors, as they were wearing their Chuunin vests (which was against the norm for them). As they all assembled into the room, Hikaru glanced over to his left, where Takeshi was sitting on a wicker bench, his eyes not trained on anything. It seemed he was somewhere else, for the moment. Kagura waved at Hikaru and he returned the favor, watching as Koushiro's head was lying on her shoulder. He was fast asleep.

Hikaru laughed softly. Koushiro was adorable in his own way. Only someone like him could fall asleep in such a huge exam.

"Um, Hikaru?"

Hikaru glanced over at Yasashi and Hanako, who were both sitting at his left. Yasashi waved him over to sit with them, "Get. Away. From. The. Pillar."

Hikaru jumped away from the pillar, thinking that maybe something was up there - like a bug or an enemy or something. But when he saw nothing was there, he looked at Yasashi. "What?"

Hanako reached up and pulled him down. "Idiot. Those aren't just pillars. They're odes to the dead. Can't you see?"

He took another look, then blushed when he saw it. There were names up on them, just at the top. He could see a couple of names - Hyuuga Neji, Rasamune Kirito, and Nabari...

He couldn't see the first name. He squinted, but there were too many vines and growth to see. He thought Takeshi said his dad came back? Maybe that was a lie just to make himself feel better.

"Okay!" Ume cheered, jumping up to her feet. "Is this everyone? Kakashi's done?"

There was a mass conformation. Makko gave a half smile, and next to him, Hikaru felt Hanako tense. Makko folded his arms behind his back, "My name is Makko, and this is a close friend of mine, Taichikawa Ume. We are the proctors for your second exam. As you may have been told, this is a test of survival."

Ume smiled, "And it might be harder for you, since it's getting cooooolder!" She giggled. With that smile and threat, she seemed a little creepy.

Yasashi giggled, "I love that girl." Hikaru smiled.

Hanako held Kiiromaru closer to her chest, staring up at Makko.

Makko rolled his eyes at her. "In any case, this test has been set up and approved by se- our Hokage and the rest of the councilmen. I can't guarantee your safety. Many of you will end up terribly injured, some may end up dead. There will be very few of you who come out alive. That's why we're going to pass around waivers - that you will not blame our village and that you will go into this of your own volition. If you don't sign this waiver, you cannot proceed to the next exam. Now that it's been said, we'll pass them out."

"Geez, Makko, could you sound any more like a robot?" Ume groaned, jumping off of the rim of the fountain. She handed them out in huge bundles, shouting, "Everyone take one and pass 'em back! You can give us a signature or you can give us a thumbprint. Doesn't matter."

Takeshi passed along the waivers, taking one in his hand. Kagura looked up at Takeshi, "You're going to make us sign these, aren't you?"

"Relax," he soothed, his voice like honey. "You're not going to die with me there."

"Oh, that's comforting. Jewelry boy is going to save us!" She glared at his necklace. "Where did you get that thing anyway? It's really girly."

Takeshi snorted. "Does that mean I'm more of a girl than you are? I mean, I knew you were manly, I just didn't think you would agree to it."

Her ears went pink. "S-Shut up, moron!"

Koushiro's eyes fluttered open, and he hummed, "Mm... wha..?" Takeshi handed him a waiver and a pen.

"Here. Sign this. It's required."

Koushiro grabbed both of the items, and signed, still half asleep. Kagura glared, "I can't believe you made him sign it without telling him what it was! Koushiro, rip it up before it's too late."

Koushiro sniffed, trying to wake himself up. He handed the waiver to Takeshi, murmuring, "Here ya go, buddy."

Takeshi smiled and wiggled his eyebrow at Kagura, who slapped him upside the head. He glared.

Over across the garden, Kiri was trying to write her name on her paper, using Aoi's back as a desk. When she finished, she pulled back. "Okay! Jinta, do you need the pen?"

Jinta was sucking at his thumb. "Nah, I just gave 'em a fingerprint." He set the paper down, a red thumb mark at the bottom of the page. Aoi scowled at the vulgar way to do it, but didn't want to bring it up. He was beginning to sound redundant, and he hated it.

"Aoi, are you alright? You look pale." Kiri's grey eyes looked into his dark blue ones, and he gave her a small smile. He loved when she paid attention to him. Even though he was nothing but scum that she picked up off the streets, she treated him as if he were in her social status. She was so beautiful, kind, and thoughtful... He would protect her from this. She didn't need a waiver, because he would never let anything happen to her. If that last test had been real, he would have dropped out. There was no way he was going on without her.

"Yes. Thank you, Kiri-sama. I feel fine." He her a warm, soft smile, and got up. "You can take my seat if you like." He hadn't even thought about her and just took a seat.

Kiri sighed, "It's alright, Aoi. I can stand."

From behind her, Jinta gave Aoi a cold, hard look, then looked away. Aoi inwardly felt enraged. Why was Jinta looking at him like that?

"Okay! Those who decided to not sign the waiver, exit to the left. Those who signed it, please follow Ume out of the Hanging Garden." Makko's voice was cold and strict, his eyes focused. Hikaru sweat-dropped. _Of course Hanako would fall for a no-nonsense guy like that. She's too honest to like a guy like... say, Yasashi. Yasashi, I'm sure, is always hiding something._

Not a single person drifted from the group to quit. It seemed Hikaru had somehow inspired them, that with their comrades with them they could pull through anything.

Ume smiled, "Ooh! That's what we were hoping for! Alright, everyone! To the Forest of Death!"

"...Is it too late to quit?" Koushiro whimpered.

"For you it is." Takeshi sneered.

Near the back of the group, Yasuo smiled, his eyes trained on Hikaru. He had absolutely no idea that Sasuke actually had offspring. Although he should have known - Sasuke had been set on repopulating his clan.

_Uchiha Hikaru, eh? _Orochimaru wondered. _I suppose he could be my next vessel, but I'll have to see if he's worth my time first. _A wicked smile set on Yasuo's face.

Ritsu and Miyazaki traded glances.

**OoOoOoOoO**

**A/N: **Sorry for the short post. (I know. You waited so long for just this.) But all I really had planned for this chapter was the first exam; but even then, I don't think it turned out as well as I hoped. :( Oh well. No one likes the first exam anyway. The whole point of it was to show that Hikaru is probably more Uzumaki than he is Uchiha, but you guys probably already guessed that.

Also. The chapter title translates loosely as "friend", "ally", or "comrade". I won't even explain that since it's pretty clear why I named this chapter that.

But whooooop! The second - and one of the longest exams - is beginning. I have a plan for it to be really, really long. But I don't know how long, I just know that this exam was always my favorite. Don't worry, I'm not copying Kishimoto-sensei with the whole "Heaven and Earth Scroll" thing. It's going to be a "Cloud and River Scroll" thing! ...Just kidding. *laughs*

Read it? Review it!

Until next time,

~FFoaP


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